Sunday, 8 November 2026 by Sagacity

Stoker-Eames Wedding

Mrs. Elizabeth Nicholls of Wembley, Middlesex, and the late Thomas Eames are pleased to announce the marriage of their daughter Emma Eames to William Stoker, son of Thomas and Ann Stoker of Brewood, Staffordshire. The couple were married on Sunday, 29 July 1849, at St. John’s Church, Wembley, in the parish of Harrow, after their banns had been read in church on three Sundays.

William gave his age as 23, a bachelor and saddler living at Newport, Shropshire, and named his father as Thomas Stoker, servant. Emma was 20, a spinster in service at Alperton, and named her father as Thomas Eames, wheelwright. Both William and Emma signed the register with their own names rather than a mark. Emma’s mother could not sign her name; fourteen years later she also signed Emma’s death certificate with her mark. The witnesses for the marriage were John and Anne Kidney, whose family lived two doors from Emma’s mother at Wembley.

Marriage of William Stoker and Emma Eames, St. John’s Wembley, parish of Harrow, 29 July 1849

Emma’s mother and stepfather, William and Elizabeth Nicholls, with the Kidney family two doors away, Wembley, 1851 census

William Edward Stoker was born 9 January 1827 at Crateford, a hamlet in the parish of Brewood, Staffordshire, and christened 4 February 1827 at the church of St. Mary and St. Chad in Brewood. Some histories and websites give 1822, even his own tombstone, a year worked back from the age of 77. The baptism register and English censuses agree on 1827.

His father, Thomas Stoker, was baptized at Brewood in 1787. The parish registers call him a laborer in 1825 and 1827 and a servant in 1828. By 1830 he was coachman at Somerford Hall, and he was still driving at 73. William’s mother was Ann Nightingale, and William was one of at least eight children. In 1841 the family lived at Four Ashes in Brewood: Thomas, coachman; Ann; Mary 21; Jane 16; Joseph 15, already a wheelwright; William 14; Thomas 11; and Eliza 8. By 1851 Ann was no longer in the household, and I have not yet found when she died. Thomas died at Brewood in 1865. Sometime in the 1840s William learned the saddler’s trade and moved across the county line to Newport, Shropshire.

Thomas Stoker household at Four Ashes, Brewood, Staffordshire, 1841 census

Emma Eames was born 16 January 1830 at Alperton and baptized 21 February 1830 at St. Mary’s, Harrow on the Hill, by William Whitmarsh Phelps. The register gives her parents as Thomas and Elizabeth Eames of Alperton, wheelwright. Thomas Eames had married Elizabeth Lewis, a native of Thatcham, Berkshire, at St. Pancras Old Church on 2 October 1825.

Baptism of Emma Eames, Harrow on the Hill, 21 February 1830, entry 1555

Emma had an older brother Thomas, born in 1826, who spent his life at Alperton and Wembley as a carpenter and later as the village postmaster and shopkeeper. His second wife, Christiana, came from his mother’s home village of Thatcham. Emma also had an older sister, Alice Ruth, christened at Harrow in March 1828, and a younger brother William, baptized at Harrow on 12 February 1832, who does not appear with the family again.

Baptism of William Eames, Harrow on the Hill, 12 February 1832, No. 118

Emma’s father was buried at Harrow on 12 September 1833, when she was three, and Elizabeth was expecting again. Their son William was born that winter and baptized at Harrow on 19 January 1834. He was buried there on 11 September 1834, nine months old. That September cholera came through Wembley. The curate wrote “Died of Cholera” beside the five burials just before William’s, though not beside his.

Baptism of William Eames, born after his father’s death, Harrow on the Hill, 19 January 1834, No. 308

Burial of William Eames of Alperton, aged 9 months, Harrow on the Hill, 11 September 1834, No. 1390

Within a few years Elizabeth married William Nicholls, a laborer from Ely, Cambridgeshire, and they had four children: William, Ellen, Caroline and George. By the 1841 census Thomas and Alice were living with them at Alperton, along with the two eldest Nicholls children. Emma was not there. “Emma Ames,” 10, appears instead in the household of John Lewis, a carman, at Horse and Groom Yard in the parish of St. John the Evangelist, Westminster. Elizabeth had a brother John, born about 1801, and the census notes this John Lewis was born outside Middlesex, so he was very likely Emma’s uncle.

William and Elizabeth Nichols with Thomas and Alice Eames and the first two Nichols children, Alperton, 1841 census

Emma “Ames,” age 10, in the John Lewis household, Horse and Groom Yard, Westminster, 1841 census

Emma went home to Alperton to have her first child. William Thomas Stoker was born there on 16 June 1850, and Emma registered the birth at Harrow eight days later. The certificate gives the father as William Edward Stoker, saddler.

Birth of William Thomas Stoker, Alperton, Harrow, 16 June 1850

By the end of March 1851 the young family was back in Newport, living on Middle Row: William, 25, journeyman saddler, born in Brewood; Emma, 22, born in Middlesex (the enumerator wrote “Studbury”); and William T., 9 months.

William, Emma and William T. Stoker, Middle Row, Newport, Shropshire, 1851 census

The family moved with William’s work. Alice was born 21 September 1851 at Brewood, near William’s family. Janetta, called Jeanette, was born 3 February 1856 at Kinver (the registrar wrote “Kinfare”), in Staffordshire, and Emma registered the birth at Wolverhampton. By 1859 they were back near Emma’s family, and Alfred was born on 22 September at Church End, Hendon, where Emma’s mother and stepfather were living by 1861. The family then settled in Reading, Berkshire, where Mary Ann was born on 24 February 1861.

Birth of Janetta Stoker, Kinver, 3 February 1856

William and Elizabeth Nicholas [Nicholls] at 63 Church End, Hendon, 1861 census — William and Elizabeth Nicholls, written Nicholas, at 63 Church End, Hendon, 1861 census

The 1861 census found the Stokers at 18 Alfred Street in the parish of St. Mary’s, Reading: William, 34, saddler journeyman; Emma, 31; Thomas, 11; Alice, 9; Jenetta, 6; Alfred, 1; and Mary Ann, a few weeks old. The enumerator listed Jenetta as born in Brewood, but her birth certificate says Kinver. One more son, George, was born 28 October 1862 and died early in 1863.

The Stoker family at 18 Alfred Street, Reading, 1861 census

The Stokers met missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Reading. William Thomas, then twelve, was baptized on 1 February 1863, and William and eleven-year-old Alice followed on 27 May. We are not sure if Emma joined the church before her death or not. The church does not appear to have records of her joining while alive.

Emma died on 28 April 1863 at 18 Alfred Street, after a year of phthisis, or tuberculosis. She was 33, though the certificate says 35. The informant, who was present at the death, was her mother, Elizabeth Nicholls of Hendon, then about 58 and working as a charwoman, who signed with her mark. Find a Grave places Emma in St. Mary’s churchyard, Reading, but no records have confirmed this burial. Her brother Thomas named a daughter Emma the following year.

Death of Emma Stoker, 18 Alfred Street, Reading, 28 April 1863

Elizabeth outlived her daughter by more than thirty years. She and William Nicholls stayed at Church End, Hendon, where the 1891 census found them at 84 and 86, and she died in 1896.

William and Elizabeth Nicolls, Church End, Hendon, 1871 census

William and Elizabeth Nicolls, Church End, Hendon, 1881 census

William and Elizabeth Nicholls, Church Road, Hendon, 1891 census

A month after Emma’s death, William was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Two weeks before that, on 16 May 1863, his notice from the Reading Conference had been acknowledged for passage on the next emigrant ship. The British Mission register lists “Wm Stoker,” 36, sadler, and his children Thos 13, Alice 10, Janet 5, Alfred 3 and Mary A., an infant, all sharing the 7 Coley Street address of the Reading members above them. He paid a £6 deposit and a balance of £15 12s, £21 12s in all, on ticket 182. The ship’s name at the top of the page is written over a crossed-out “Cynosure.”

William Stoker and five children in the British Mission emigration register, ship Amazon, 1863, p. 295

The Amazon left London on 4 June 1863 with 895 Latter-day Saints. Before she sailed, Charles Dickens visited the ship and later described the emigrants as the “pick and flower” of England. Elijah Larkin, a fellow passenger, noted that thirteen-year-old Thomas was administered to on 16 and 20 June for a sickness he had had since sailing. The ship landed at Castle Garden, New York, on 18 July.

From New York the Saints went west by rail. Verna Olson’s history says that the same evening they landed, the family went on by train to Albany on their way to Florence, Nebraska, the Church’s outfitting post, the last stretch by river steamer up the Missouri. Two family accounts say William stayed and worked in New York for a time, but his marriage in Ogden in May 1864 means he must have crossed with the 1863 companies, since no company leaving the Missouri in 1864 could have reached Utah by then. At Florence, teams and wagons sent by the Church met those who could not pay for their own, and the emigrants divided into several wagon companies for the last thousand miles. The trail followed the Platte across Nebraska, past Chimney Rock and Fort Laramie, then up the Sweetwater past Independence Rock and through Devil’s Gate, where the Martin Handcart Company had been stranded seven years before. George A. Smith wrote that the company reached Salt Lake City and camped on Union Square on Saturday and Sunday, 3 and 4 October 1863, “in good health and fine spirits,” two days before General Conference opened on Tuesday, 6 October. The journey from London had taken four months. I have not yet identified which wagon company the Stokers crossed with. The Daniel D. McArthur company, which left Florence on 6 August and ended its journey at Salt Lake City on 3 October, is one likely candidate.

Ogden and Plain City

William settled in Ogden and opened its first harness shop. He married Eliza Sinfield in Ogden on 18 May 1864, and three years later, to the day, they were endowed and sealed in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. Their home stood on 26th Street between Washington and Grant, which the 1880 census lists as 6th Street; in 1889 Ogden added twenty to the numbers of its east-west streets. On 27 March 1869 William was called as one of the presidents of the 75th Quorum of Seventies.

Before long, the five children from England were living with families in Plain City, all of them Latter-day Saints at the time. Several Plain City families, the Sharps among them, later left for the Episcopal church after a dispute over tithing that Milo Ross remembered as the doing of one bishop. Family accounts say the children first camped in a tent on the Plain City square. Mary Ann was raised by George and Victorine Musgrave, who called her Lillie, and Jeanette by Lewis and Catherine Garner. The 1870 census lists all five with William and Eliza in Ogden, but it cannot be taken literally. It even includes Alice, who had died the previous September, and the others were also counted with the families they lived with; Jeanette appears with the Garners as “Janet.”

Children

William Thomas Stoker, known as Thomas, was born 16 June 1850 at Alperton, Middlesex. On 22 August 1870 he married Fanny Amelia Tucker in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, and they settled in Plain City, where they raised nine children. After Fanny died in 1892 he married Ellen Hemmings, and after her death, Catherine Oliver. He died at Plain City on 21 October 1908 and is buried in the Plain City Cemetery.

Alice Stoker was born 21 September 1851 at Brewood and was baptized with her father on 27 May 1863. She is buried in the Ogden City Cemetery, whose records give her death as 11 September 1869, ten days before her eighteenth birthday. In 1887 James England, born the same year as Alice, was sealed to her in the Logan Temple. I am not clear if they were engaged and then she passed away before marriage, or what occurred. But James and Alice were sealed while he was still alive.

Janetta (Jeanette) Stoker was born 3 February 1856 at Kinver, Staffordshire. On 22 December 1875 she married Charles David Rogers at Sandy, Salt Lake County, where they spent the rest of their lives. They had nine children, four of them sons who died young. She died at Sandy on 5 December 1941. Her obituary gives 2 February 1855 in Devonshire, but the birth certificate states Kinver.

Alfred William Stoker, known as Jim, was born 22 September 1859 at Church End, Hendon. By 1880 he was living with his father in Ogden, and on 30 July 1881 he married Elizabeth Branson. They raised twelve children. By 1900 the family had moved to Pocatello, Idaho, where he worked as an upholsterer for the Oregon Short Line. He died at Pocatello on 3 November 1927 and is buried in Mountain View Cemetery.

Mary Ann (Lillie) Stoker was born 24 February 1861 at Reading. She was raised by George and Victorine Musgrave of Plain City and on 11 May 1879 married Milo Riley Sharp. She died at Plain City on 6 May 1935 and is buried there.

George Stoker was born at Reading on 28 October 1862 and died there early in 1863, only weeks before his mother.

The Second Family

Eliza Sinfield was born 26 January 1842 at Eversholt, Bedfordshire, to Samuel Sinfield, a bricklayer’s laborer, and Phebe Cross, who had joined the Church. Phebe died on 20 August 1852, a week before the family was to leave for Zion. Samuel still made the trip with his two daughters. They sailed to New Orleans and up the Mississippi. Samuel drove a Church team across the plains in 1853 while the girls walked most of the way. In Ogden they lived at first in a dugout cut into the hillside, and there a long fever left Eliza lame. She was 22 when she married William in 1864. As a widow she lived for a time with her daughter Agnes at Mullan, Idaho. She died at Agnes’s home in Salt Lake City on 3 April 1912, of heart disease, and was taken home to Ogden for burial.

Emma Stoker was born at Ogden on 24 March 1865 and died there on 16 October 1878, aged thirteen. She is buried in the Ogden City Cemetery.

Agnes Stoker was born at Ogden on 1 October 1866. She married George Shields, and by 1889 they were in the mining country of northern Idaho. In 1900 they were at Mullan with their children, her widowed mother and her brother Albert. George died in 1906, and Agnes settled in Salt Lake City, where her mother died in her home in 1912. Agnes died in Salt Lake City on 6 September 1921 and is buried in the Ogden City Cemetery.

Henrietta (Etta) Stoker was born at Ogden on 10 October 1868. At sixteen she married Simon Heber Weston, and she lived in Ogden the rest of her life. They had nine children, six of whom she outlived. Simon died in 1939, and Etta died at Ogden on 10 June 1942.

Eli Benjamin Stoker was born at Ogden in July 1870; his death certificate gives 1872. He married Sarah Jane (Jennie) Thomas in Salt Lake City on 22 November 1899, and they settled in the mining town of Mullan, Idaho, where he lived for most of the next fifty years. They had six children. He died at Silverton, Idaho, on 16 May 1952 and is buried at Mullan.

Albert Edward Stoker was born at Ogden on 12 May 1873. In 1900, still single at 27, he was living with his sister Agnes and their mother at Mullan, Idaho. On 17 February 1908 he married Annie (Larson) Shulsen in Salt Lake City and became stepfather to her son, William. He later settled at Midvale, where he died on 8 February 1949, and he is buried in the Midvale City Cemetery.

Victoria Stoker was born at Ogden on 28 May 1875. She died there at a quarter past six on the evening of 20 November 1888, aged thirteen, and her funeral was held two days later at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Ogden’s Episcopal church. She is buried in the Ogden City Cemetery. In July 1891 William and Eliza had Victoria and her sister Emma baptized by proxy in the Logan Temple, and that October Emma’s endowment was done there on the thirteenth anniversary of her death.

Three of William’s daughters: Mary Ann (Lillie) Stoker Sharp and Jeanette Stoker Rogers, who sailed on the Amazon, and their half-sister Henrietta (Etta) Stoker Weston, born in Ogden

William’s Death

William died in April 1899 at a son’s home in Plain City. The Ogden Standard gave the date as the 11th; his headstone gives the 12th. His funeral was held at the Plain City meeting house on Thursday, 13 April, and he is buried in the Plain City Cemetery. The paper remembered him as a pioneer of Weber County for thirty-six years and the first man to go into the harness business in Ogden. It listed four sons and four daughters as survivors, which matches the eight children known to have outlived him.

Notice of William Stoker’s funeral, Ogden Standard, April 1899

This is the only other picture we have of William Edward Stoker, as a much older man. You can see the tuft of hair in the middle that has not changed, and the same man greatly aged. Look closely and you can see some of the resemblance in his sons.

Emma was sealed to William by proxy on 18 May 1867, the same day he was endowed and sealed to his second wife. That seems to indicate he and others had her baptism and confirmation information, as well as someone performing her endowment. Those records, if existing do not currently show. She was baptized by proxy on 7 August 1956. Her endowment was done by proxy on 20 December 1956 in Idaho Falls Idaho Temple.

Sunday, 18 January 2026 by Sagacity

Preston England Dedication Handkerchief

Preston England Temple Dedication Handkerchief

On 5 April 2020, I had to go digging to find my Hosanna Shout Handkerchief. It was the 200th Anniversary of the First Vision of Joseph Smith Jr. and President Russell M. Nelson had indicated we would be having a Hosanna Shout the day before to honor and celebrate. At some point on that day I snapped this picture of my handkerchief.

This handkerchief was given to me in Runcorn, England by John and Rose Byrom. It had been used in the Hosanna Shout for the Preston England Temple Dedication. I do not know who it belonged to or why it was being given to some missionary from Idaho, but I gladly accepted it. I got to use it for the first time on 8 October 2000 in the Manchester England Stake Center for the dedication of the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Several days later I recall my companion, Elder Gheorghe Simion, telling me that during the night he heard me muttering the Hosanna Shout in my sleep. Later, again, we were in the car and he told me I should stop saying the Hosanna Shout under my breath. I had not realized I was doing it. But I do catch myself once and a while repeating its words to myself on particular occasions. It is deeply entrenched in my soul.

As I sat thinking about this handkerchief in 2020, I was thinking about all the occasions on which I have had the privilege of using it since then. For a record, I thought I better list the dates this handkerchief was used for a Hosanna Shout. I have updated it even for additional uses since 2020, particularly in dedicating our own Burley Idaho Temple.

Preston England Temple – 7-10 June 1998 – Preston England Temple, Chorley, England. I did not use it, someone else did.

Conference Center – 8 October 2000 – Manchester Stake Center, Altrincham, England.

Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple – 22 April 2001 – Branson Chapel, Branson, Missouri.

Nauvoo Illinois Temple – 27 June 2002 – Branson Chapel, Branson, Missouri.

Boise Idaho Temple – 18 November 2012 – Paul Idaho Stake Center – Paul, Idaho.

Provo City Utah Temple – 20 March 2016 – Kaysville Utah South Stake Center, Kaysville, Utah.

Idaho Falls Idaho Temple – 4 June 2017 – Burley West Idaho Stake Center, Burley, Idaho.

Meridian Idaho Temple – 19 November 2017 – Burley West Idaho Stake Center, Burley, Idaho.

Palm Sunday – 5 April 2020 – Ross Home, 819 Fairmont Street, Burley, Idaho.

Pocatello Idaho Temple – 7 November 2021 – American Falls Idaho Stake Center, American Falls, Idaho.

Layton Utah Temple – 16 June 2024 – Kaysville Columbia Heights, Kaysville 11th, and Spencer Wards Building, Kaysville, Utah.

Burley Idaho Temple – 11 January 2026 – Burley Idaho Central Stake Center, Burley, Idaho.

Montpelier Idaho Temple – 18 October 2026 – Grace Idaho Stake Center, Grace, Idaho.

Sunday, 30 November 2025 by Sagacity

Burley Idaho Temple Open House

The Burley Idaho Temple Open House ran 3 November 2025 to 22 November 2025. It was an amazing opportunity to invite the local and broader community to walk through a pinnacle of our worship. I attended 5 of the much more individual and personal tours on the 3rd through 5th with public leaders and distinguished guests. I wish everyone could attend these tours, which would often take 45 minutes to 60 minutes for the full tour. Some of these were guided by General Authorities, including Elders Steven R. Bangerter, Karl D. Hirst, and K. Brett Nattress.

On Thursday, the general public was welcome to attend open tours. Our first tour tried to do a small introduction in each room, but about half-way through that was abandoned to keep the lines moving. Every tour I attended afterward did not have any attempted presentations, other than to remind individuals to not take photos and to speak softly.

Amanda sneaked over and caught a personal tour on the 6th.

6 November 2025 – Amanda Ross attended individually

Amanda and I took our family on Friday 7 November 2025.

Saturday morning we attended with some friends. This was my 7th tour that first week!

8 November 2025 – Bud and Karen Marie Whiting, Amanda Ross, James Ross, Aliza Ross, Lea Pierucci Izama, Audra Hales, Aleah Hales, Anson Hales, Brad Hales, Paul Ross

The next weekend, Amanda had a bunch of family come to town and also attend. This Friday night was my 4th tour of the second week.

14 November 2025 – Hiram Ross, Amanda Ross, Lillian Ross, Rowan Hemsley, Margo Hemsley, Bryan Hemsley, Olivia Hemsley, Jill Hemsley, Jack Hemsley, James Ross, Paul Ross, Aliza Ross, Jordan Hemsley, Derek Hemsley

I also got to attend some more times the third week. But my 4th tour in the third week was with my sister and brother-in-law.

22 November 2025 – Paul Ross, Andra and Wes Herbst

That makes 15 trips through the temple for the open house. I was also privileged to do temple security on 5 different occasions, all for the 9:00 PM to 1:00 AM shift. Here are some photos from that opportunity.

5 November 2025 – Paul Ross and Kevin Mower for the graveyard shift

10 November 2025 – Paul Ross and Tyson Smith for the graveyard shift

Amanda also got to do a security shift, parking shift, and foot covering (booty) shift.

12 November 2025 – Amanda Ross Parking Shift

12 November 2025 – Amanda Ross Security Shift

Some of the late night security shifts were great opportunities to reflect on the blessings we are now achieving with the ease and access of a temple so close.

When I received my first temple recommend for my own endowment, Paul Idaho Stake President, M. Gene Hansen, invited me to make a commitment to attend the temple every month at a minimum. I took that commitment. I agreed.

In Hazelton, Idaho, it took me roughly 2 1/4 hours to get to the Boise Idaho Temple (speed limits have increased since then); Idaho Falls Idaho Temple was just under 2 hours; Logan Utah Temple was about 2 1/2 hours, and Ogden Utah Temple was 2 1/2 hours. I was endowed in Logan in September 1998 with my Dad. I attended Logan and Boise before going on the mission. But it was at least half a day planning to attend the temple before the mission.

Within the Manchester England Mission is found the Preston England Temple. Attending the temple in the mission required coordination with members as the temple isn’t near public transportation and we relied on members to take us. We could only go on Preparation Day, which was Tuesday. That took some work, but I was able to attend every month of the mission (except for some months where some missionaries had abused the privilege and all missionaries lost temple attendance options for three months). Getting to the temple was within 1 hour for every area in which I served.

I lived in Branson Missouri for a couple of years. Our closest temple for Branson was the St. Louis Missouri Temple. That drive was at least 4 hours one way, often 4 1/2 hours. That required an entire day to be set aside and planned to drive, attend, and return home. Never missed a month in Branson. I sealed my Jonas grandparents together in St. Louis Missouri Temple. The Bentonville Arkansas Temple has been constructed much closer at about 2 hours. The Springfield Missouri Temple will be less than an hour away from Branson.

Amanda and I lived in Richmond Virginia for a couple of years. Our closest temple for Richmond was the Washington D.C. Temple. That drive was between 4 and 5 hours away, depending on beltway traffic. We would often go up and spend Friday night with family, attend the temple that night or in the morning, and then make our way back home. Washington D.C. Temple was closed for a bit, so to make the monthly trip, we had to go to the Raleigh North Carolina Temple. That was almost a 4 hour drive one direction. The new Richmond Virginia Temple is just outside the first neighborhood we lived in and within 10 minutes of the second neighborhood we lived.

When we moved back to Idaho, the Twin Falls Idaho Temple had been dedicated. That dropped the 2 to 2 1/2 hour drive time for all those temples to less than an hour, usually between 50-60 minutes. But it still takes time and planning to ensure I get there every month. This is double now that we also have a commitment to see that Aliza and Hiram are able to attend at least monthly.

Now, with the dedication of the Burley Idaho Temple in January, the temple will be between 5 to 6 minutes away.

Now I have to reevaluate. It seems the once a month commitment is not enough. I think that will remain the absolute minimum going forward for the rest of my life. It also seems I have no reason to not attend to at least one ordinance in the temple at least every week.

To show my gratitude to our Father and our Savior, I intend to attend the Burley Idaho Temple at least daily for the first 30 days it is open after dedication. Which isn’t as much as it seems if you consider it is not open on Sunday, Monday, or Thursday. Still working out what happens after the first 30 days.

For the last three weeks I have found myself regularly humming The Spirit of God and also muttering the Hosanna Shout under my breath. I am looking forward to the dedication of the Burley Idaho Temple on 11 January 2026!

Sunday, 19 May 2024 by Sagacity

Layton & Taylorsville Temple Open Houses

Paul, Hiram, and Aliza Ross at Vernal Utah Temple

Before I talk about the Layton and Taylorsville Temples, I thought I better throw in another temple visit we made since I last updated. While on Spring Break this year, we made a stop in Vernal, Utah. While there, we scheduled and attended the Vernal Utah Temple with the kids. Glad we stopped to make another memory at another House of the Lord.

Hiram and Aliza at Vernal Utah Temple on 27 March 2024

Since the kids have a goal to attend the temple every month this year, we did also make it in April to the Twin Falls Temple. In May, while going to Utah for the open houses, we made sure to stop off and fulfill the monthly goal. May took us to Ogden Utah Temple.

Hiram and Aliza Ross at Ogden Utah Temple 17 May 2024

Later that evening, we attended the open house of the Layton Utah Temple with Amanda’s parents. Beautiful.

Paul, Lillian, Amanda, Aliza, James, and Hiram Ross with Bryan and Jill Hemsley 17 May 2024

We look forward to attending the temple after it is dedicated.

The next day we attended the open house for the Taylorsville Utah Temple, again with Amanda’s parents. We were also excited to run into the Brad and Rachel Hales family as well as Sarah Sanderson!

Bryan and Jill Hemsley with James, Aliza, Lillian, Hiram, Amanda, and Paul Ross 18 May 2024

It has been a crazy year for temple attendance and temple open houses. We have attended quite a few and quite a few are coming up for open houses. Wow, should be fun. It is exciting that the Kingdom and Church of God on the earth is in such a position to build so many beautiful houses to the Lord. We are blessed to attend the open houses and hopefully return some day to participate in holy ordinances there.

When I was interviewed for my first temple recommend in 1998, President Gene Hansen indicated he had a goal since he was first endowed to attend the temple every single month. He challenged me to do the same. As long as I have held a recommend, or I had permission to attend, I have attended the temple every single month since 1998. That meant a full day off of work in Missouri as it was a 4 hour drive one way from Branson, Missouri, to St. Louis, Missouri. Or from Richmond, Virginia, to Washington, D.C., that was a 4-5 hour drive and we often would go up and spend the night and return home on Saturday or Sunday depending on the circumstances.

Many open houses are upcoming, including Deseret Peak Utah; Casper Wyoming; Grand Junction Colorado; Elko Nevada; Syracuse Utah; Burley Idaho; Lindon Utah; Ephraim Utah; Smithfield Utah; Montpelier Idaho; Heber Valley Utah; Teton River Idaho; Salt Lake City Utah; Provo Rock Canyon Utah; Cody Wyoming; Lethbridge Alberta; Lehi Utah; and West Jordan Utah. Hopefully we can make some of the more exotic ones, particularly Birmingham England; Edinburgh Scotland; Honolulu Hawaii; and Vancouver British Columbia. We will see what our future holds.

Saturday, 11 September 2021 by Sagacity

My 9/11 20th Commemoration

Many are more eloquent than me. Many have shared their memories of that fateful day, where they were at, what they were doing, and how they felt. I wish to sing with that chorus.

9/11 2021 at the Ross home. My shadow, Lillie, Aliza, Hiram, James, and Amanda.

I am not really certain why I felt more sensitive or emotional today. There was really no change from the 15, 18, or 19 year anniversary. But I felt myself pondering and deliberating, moved to tears multiple times by music and commemorative videos. I honored the 20th anniversary in Burley, Idaho with my family. I pulled my journal from 2001 to see what I wrote then. Here are a couple of excerpts.

“The past days are days never to be forgotten. Shock, anguish, anger, and peace. Not only catastrophic terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington D.C. which I shall not rehearse. They leave me in such sorrow for those people. I have wept several times. My little heart strings are tried in many ways. Such loss of life. Also a sense of awe in the brute power this government has. The whole world is shuttering at the thought of America angry. Even Germany, England, and France are quick to say we are on your side more in fear than just loyalty. It looks as if we may go to war. Even Afghanistan is quick to say they will do what we want. A country not totally cooperative in the past.” Recorded 13 September 2001.

“It is strangely imaginable how much life can change in the space of a few days… I was impressed that Friday was a national day of prayer. I listened to a portion of the service at that National Cathedral in Washington D.C. I was very moved, especially with the Battle Hymn of the Republic. The church also had a service I saw a small part of. A service done by the church in the tabernacle. A very moving scene with the two huge flags draped behind the choir… Although I had to work Sunday I knew would be a hard day for me. I had high emotions and with the tragedy this week… Sacrament was amazing. I sat with Paul & Kathryn [England]. The Bishopric all spoke and several musical numbers. The Hughes brothers sang ‘Lord, Make Me an Instrument of they Peace.’ Kathryn sang ‘In My Father’s House There are Many Mansions.’ The Lowes did a medley with Bonnie of ‘Where can I turn for Peach, Abide with Me, and I need Thee Every Hour.’ One of the things that stuck out with the meeting was we need to forgive, but justice must be served. The opening hymn was ‘America.’ Powerful.” Recorded 17 September 2001.

I didn’t write as much as I thought I might have, especially with the vivid memories I have. 11 September 2001 was what 22 November 1963 was to my parents. 11 September 2001 was what 7 December 1941 was for my grandparents. So it is through the generations before. Where and what they were doing when they heard about x, y, or z. The assassination of Lincoln or Garfield or Ferdinand. The sinking of the Reuben James or the Bismarck. Or the surrender of Cornwall. I guess it depends on what generation or the incident.

Here is my story of 11 September 2001. I was living with Gary & Lena Hughes at 368 Santa Fe Ave, Branson, Missouri. I managed the dinner theater for the Hughes Brothers. As such, I worked late evenings and usually got up in the morning to an empty home. I often got up and prepared for the day, ate breakfast, and usually practiced the piano and singing. Most of the time the local radio was playing in the background, the station usually 1930s-1950s music.

This morning was different. I woke up and I remember thinking the day was heavy. The radio was not on, I did not practice. It was quiet and solemn. I ate and headed to the theater for the first show of the day. The drive to the theater was usually less than 10 minutes.

I turned on the radio half way to the theater. There was discussion about damage to a skyscraper and confusion on which of the buildings had been hit. I did not get enough information to know where or what had happened. But I understood there was a potential attack on the United States.

I arrived at the theater and I could sense the pandemonium. It was big, whatever had happened. But the buses were arriving and we needed to get the people seated and ready for the first show. Some of the people were just as unaware as me, others were visibly upset, others were just emotionless. As the time got closer there was a sense of panic of whether to cancel, how to alter the show, what to do moving forward. The information coming to us from the office was becoming more clear as to what had happened. The show started late. It was going to be mostly impromptu.

Elder Evan Wagley in front of the Hughes Brothers Theater, Branson, Missouri, I believe 2002.

I watched from the balcony as Jason Hughes welcomed the audience. He gave an update for everyone present. Asked whether the show could start with a prayer. A prayer was uttered. I don’t recall if it was first or not, but the Hughes Brothers sang their version of Secret Prayer. It still haunts me today, the memory, the song. We were communing in a theater church. There were hymns, patriotic music, and a smattering of other songs. It is all fuzzy to me now 20 years later, but Secret Prayer is the show for me. I was likely back and forth between the offices and the balcony of the theater. The response at intermission and afterward was extremely positive. Those people had been uplifted.

Here is a link to the Hughes Brothers singing the song.

https://fb.watch/7ZgEY7GbIs/

As the day went on it was interesting to see the reactions of individuals. There was a general consensus we were headed to war. Some were so distraught that our nation and way of life was ending. Others were hopeful this was an isolated incident. There were many tears and emotions were high. One individual in the office was trying to figure out ways to avoid the draft that was sure to come. I was turning 22 that same month, prime age. Do we enlist or just wait it out. Others commented about their parents and the bombing of Pearl Harbor and how they mobilized.

My Grandfather Ross and Grandmother Jonas had both planted a seed in my heart and a desire to serve in the military. I looked forward to the opportunity and yet feared what might yet come. Too this day, I still wonder how I will yet serve and get that honorable flag on my casket.

As the days pressed forward we watched a revitalization of unity in faith and our nation. I do not believe it was the time I felt the strongest for my country, but it was the time when it was the most palpable.

That is all I recall of the day looking back. My journal helped me recall the international unity and coalescing against terror and evil. I do long for the days of trying to do what is right for the nation as opposed for the party or individual. May those days again return, but not due to some terrible tragedy. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be in the cards. But one can hope. Whether in this life of the next, it will come. “It’s the place where dreams come true.”

Elder Spencer Lewis and me at Mt. Vernon Missouri, I believe mid September 2001.

Sunday, 17 November 2019 by Sagacity

20 years of passing

Colleen and her grandson, Paul Ross.

This year on 14 November 2019 marked the 20 year passing of my Grandmother, Colleen Andra Jonas.

I thought about that experience repeatedly on Thursday. She would have turned 91 earlier this year. She was falling apart then, so 91 probably would not have treated her well. She passed away from a botched back surgery that had taken place several days before. 14 November 1999 was a Sunday.

Her passing is important for me for several reasons. She was probably the person I most loved in my whole universe. In many ways she had helped raise me and I always felt a very keen affinity and close relationship with her. We knew each others thoughts, feelings, and how to connect. I attribute many of my characteristics, humor, ability to communicate and get along with others, and much more to her. She was a remarkable woman. She had her faults, we all do, but that innate goodness outshines everything to me. Her passing I can safely say completely rocked my world.

On the other side of the coin though, her passing marked my first spiritual experience inside of a Temple. I was serving as missionary in the England Manchester Mission (EMM). I was then serving in the Eccles Ward, living in Patricroft. Our preparation day was on Mondays. On 15 November 1999, I went with a family and our missionary district to the Preston England Temple. We did a number of baptisms that day. We intended to take at least one name through baptism, confirmation, initiatory, and endowment.

Somehow I found myself sitting alone outside initiatory. I have no clue where the other missionaries were, it must have been a shift change or the workers had to go to the veil. I sat on a padded bench outside initiatory, I suppose the other elders were sitting waiting in the initiatory booths.

Colleen Elliott tending to Paul Ross sitting on her kitchen counter

As I sat there, the smell of Hai Karate came to me. That was a distinct smell of my grandmother, she wore that. I knew she had surgery the previous week so I thought of her and prayed for her well-being. Knowing she had a pretty major surgery coming up, we visited on the telephone the week before. We talked about our love for each other. We spent several minutes discussing Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s talk just the month before at General Conference, “An High Priest of Good Things to Come.” We were both very moved by that talk and felt it directly related to both of us in our circumstances, especially in light of my mother’s actions the year before. There was very much to look forward to and be positive about. We closed that phone call expressing our love, looking forward to reuniting, and knowing Christ as our “High Priest of Good Things to Come.”

It was then in my mind’s eye I was transported to her surgery in Sun Valley, Idaho. I saw the surgery, the actions of the surgeon, the extent of the invasive nature of the work. It was during this that I saw the mistake that occurred and that was left. Then I saw her coalescing in the hospital and the problem being created by the nicked bowel. I saw the nurses get her up on Sunday morning, I saw the dislodging of the clot that occurred, I saw and felt the panic in her and the nurses. I saw her slump to the floor in unconsciousness. I knew she had passed at that moment.

I then saw my Mom, my Uncle, my Sister, my Aunt, and Bud (her husband) and their finding out the news. My Mom didn’t know yet, but she would find out. I saw the sadness, desperation, and frustration that came with it.

It was then I came back to myself in Preston, England. I had just experienced the past week of my grandmother and immediate family in what seemed to me to be a couple of hours, but must have been less than 10 minutes in the Preston England Temple. I saw there in a sort of out-of-body experience looking at myself sitting there in the 1999 initiatory clothing sitting on a bench outside an initiatory booth.

Then at that moment, in my mind’s eye, my grandmother was there. I could smell her. She talked to me, I could hear and feel her talking into my ear as I watched myself sitting there on the bench. I couldn’t see her. She told me that she had passed away. She told me a number of other things I don’t feel to share here. I am telling you, I was standing there, out of my body, listening to her. She then went to leave, and the person of me standing there looking at me sitting there, started to cry. She told me not to. She hugged me. Then she departed.

Side profile with grandson Paul Ross, 1979.

Suddenly, I was back sitting on the bench. I could still smell her. I didn’t want it to leave. I looked up wondering what had happened. In typical mortal fashion, I just thought to myself I had fallen asleep and dreamed it. It was a dream to me. I was overwhelmed by the experience but I didn’t believe it.

I must have been pretty somber throughout the rest of the day. I didn’t really talk after the temple, at dinner that night, I was overwhelmed by the vision/dream.

Tuesday dawned and we went to work. The day went along but the experience would not leave me. We got home that night to 24 Lewis Street, Patricroft, England and were getting ready for the night. It was then a knock came to the door.

I opened the door and there stood President Philip Wightman. He said he was there to visit with me and I immediately knew why. That dream/vision I had experienced and did not believe was now true. I completely broke down sobbing. He came in and we visited, I cried so hard I couldn’t breathe. He just held and hugged me. Finally sitting facing each other on folding chairs I told him of my experience. Initially he said something like, “Knowing you and your history and that your Grandmother had passed, I came to visit you personally.” After I shared with him my insight, his comment was along the lines of, “Glad I could confirm what you already knew. I guess I didn’t need to come personally visit.” I was very glad he did. It was funny, a year later he indicated, “That was the night the lights came on in Elder Ross.” I guess I wasn’t wholly in the work just yet, or along for the ride. Not sure, I wasn’t a bad missionary, but the gospel became that much more real for me through this experience.

Colleen Jonas Portrait, 1991.

While writing this at this time, I can only think of two other experience I have had with my sweet grandmother since her passing. One was while I lived in Branson, Missouri and she came bearing an answer to a prayer. I was actually sleeping at that time and after her departure I awoke. In the middle of the night I then went to see if my good friend Terry McCombs, who was staying at the same home, was awake. Sure enough he was. I shared the experience, the one in the Preston England Temple, and some others I have had. He shared with me many of his own. We talked for hours in the middle of the night and the spirit burned in my heart. I love and miss Terry. The other experience actually happened during a Priesthood Blessing that was being given to me in Logan, Utah by Dustin McClellan. I recognized my grandmother’s presence come into the room. He then announced he was acting voice for her in which he blessed me as if he were her. Wow, if one wanted to hear a voice from the dead, that is the way to do it! Even though Dustin spoke, I heard her voice in my ears.

This week marked the 20 year anniversary of one of the most emotional weeks I have ever had in my life. Both on the emotional from a death, but on the spiritual of an everlasting burning of a memory on my soul. Even recounting it in writing tonight I felt myself reliving some of it.

It is experiences like this that come to mind when people tell me that nobody can know for sure that God exists, or that his Son did anything for us. It is moments like this when the spirit world is very real and I view people’s arguments against God as rationalization to make themselves feel better for not knowing. Those arguments are a whistling in the dark. For I have no doubt from the experiences recounted above and numerous others that the spirit world is not far away. These are experiences with my grandmother, but there are others.

14 Sep 1998, Paul Ross, Colleen Lloyd, Paul, Idaho

I know God lives, just as surely as my grandmother still lives spiritually. I am not aware of her being resurrected at this time, but it will come if it hasn’t already. Death is not the end, that is my personal experience. I don’t care for aging and death much, but neither are the end. We have a work to do and not much time to do it in.

Oh how I miss my grandmother. I haven’t had an experience with her directly since 2005, 6 years after her death, at least that I can recall now. How I look forward to seeing her again. It will be a blessed day. 20 years seems so long, yet so short in how vivid the love and tenderness is. Years have caused me to forget some of her mannerisms and characteristics, but the connection is as strong as it was ever at any point. It extends through time and space between us. But this anniversary shocked me at how long it has been, and yet how fresh it still seems.

Here is a picture of the last day I saw her physically. The day I met with the Stake President again and to finally go into the Missionary Training Center after many weeks of delay due to my mother’s actions.

The morning to go to the MTC with Milo Ross, Colleen Lloyd, and Jackie Melycher

Sunday, 21 August 2016 by Sagacity

Edith Maude Gudmundson Andra

Edith Maude Gudmundson Andra, 91, passed away on Monday, 18 July 2016 at her home in Stockton, Missouri, from natural causes related to age. She was born the first of two children on 21 September 1924 in Logan, Utah, to Melvin Peter and Maude Victoria Wollaston Gudmundson. She married William Fredrick Andra Jr 13 June 1947 in the Logan Utah LDS Temple. Together they had six children. William passed away in 1992. Edith married Leland Fred Williams 10 March 1999 in Arnica, Missouri. He predeceased her in 2011.

Edith grew up in Logan at 253 East 3rd South. She had one sister, Shirley, born in 1928, with who she grew up.

Shirley, Melvin, and Edith

Shirley and Edith Gudmundson

Her mother passed away in 1931 and the family had to work through those difficult years with just the three of them. She attended Wilson School and Logan Junior and Senior Schools where she graduated. She played the violin.

Logan HS Yearbook

She enlisted in the Navy in Salt Lake City, Utah, 21 September 1944 and served until discharge in San Francisco, California, 1 May 1946. She trained and served as a switchboard operator for the majority of the time of her service.

After her military service, she attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

Edith in the BYU yearbook

During this time she met William Andra, who discharged from the Marines 20 June 1946. I am not aware that he attended Brigham Young University, but I know he was living in Orem and it was likely there that William and Edith met culminating in their marriage in 1947.

Edith and William Andra Marriage Portrait

Greg William was born in Preston, Idaho in 1948. Chad Fredrick was born in Preston in 1949.

By 1950, the family was living in Boise for a short time.

Edith in 1951

The family then moved back to Logan where Kent Melvin was born in 1954.

The family was living in Midvale by 1955 where Marc David was born. Then to Salt Lake City in 1956. Troy Norman was born in Providence in 1960.

Bill & Edith in Richmond for an Andra Reunion

A few years later the family moved to Smithfield. Todd Nathan was born in Smithfield in 1968.

It is in Smithfield that my mother came to know the family, since she was living in Richmond. Kent and my Mom were close in age and played together.

Larry and Mom both told me stories about William and Edith being very particular about being healthy eaters. Larry remembers Edith washing every leaf of a head of lettuce before it could be eaten. William tried to convince Larry of the unhealthy nature of bacon and milk. Nobody else seemed to care, but it would really get William and Edith upset when people would not come to their way of thinking. William was also particular about when you ate, not mixing the various parts of your food with other parts. Larry found much of this amusing.

The Andra family was a fairly tight knit family and held reunions together yearly. Relationships started to strain in 1965 when William and Edith learned and accepted polygamy leading to their excommunication from the LDS church. The Andra family relationships started to strain further after attempts to convert William’s parents and some of the siblings to polygamy. Even while William’s parents were in a nursing home late in life, there were attempts to convert them to polygamy which led to final severing ties.

I don’t know when, but the family after converting to polygamy moved to Santa Clara. Nobody in the immediate family knows when due to the severance. After many years in Santa Clara, they then moved to Cedar County, Missouri.

My first visit to Edith was in 2001. I was moving to Branson, Missouri for work and before I left Uncle Ross Andra told me Edith lived in Missouri somewhere. I do not have any memories with William and Edith and did not even know she was still alive. Ross told me I should stop and visit. I knew nothing of the divide that had come into the family.

When I stayed the night before entering Missouri in Florence, Kansas, I looked to see what I could find in the phone book. With a last name like Andra, it wasn’t hard to find who I thought was the right name in Stockton, Missouri. I called the number and it was Mary Andra, wife of Kent Andra who answered. She told me I was welcome to stop by and since their shop was a bit off the beaten path, gave me directions.

I arrived later that day and found a long lost number of cousins I never knew existed. I saw the shop, I met a number of Kent’s children, and then I was taken down to the home to meet more of the family. When I was introduced to his wife, Tammy, I thought I had already met his wife, Mary, but I assumed I must have misunderstood. I met more and more children.

Kent sent one of his daughters with me to help me find Edith’s home. I sat with Edith meeting her for the first time in my memory and chatted for quite a while. She showed me some family history, told me some sweet stories of my Grandmother Colleen, and various conversations. Edith did not know Colleen had passed away. She told me of her new marriage to Leland Williams. We parted on great terms and went back to Kent’s home, enjoyed some carrot juice, and visited.

In a funny situation, I was enjoying my carrot juice trying to keep the children’s names straight when Mary came into the house. I sat there talking with Kent, Tammy, and Mary having a good laugh. I kept wondering how I misunderstood and was unclear on who was Kent’s wife, so I asked. They stated that both were. I sat there not comprehending. I must have looked confused because they just looked at me. It then dawned on me and I made some comment like, “Well, we are family right?” I laughed, they laughed, and I think any tension or misunderstanding that may have been there melted away. That was not something I was expecting that day!

We said our goodbyes knowing that we were still family. I quite enjoyed my visit.

It was later that week I got a phone call from Edith asking me to not share names, circumstances, or anything else regarding the family because it had caused so much trouble with the rest of the family. I told her that we were family and it did not bother me and I really did not think it bothered anyone else.

I visited again in 2002. When Kent passed away in 2003, I thought they were very kind to let me know.

Amanda and I stopped in 2006 on our move from Utah to Virginia. As we drove to the boonies where they lived, she joked with me that I was going to drop her off out in the middle of nowhere. We again had a very pleasant visit with Mary, Tammy, and Edith. Amanda was prepped with the information and quickly found out nobody had multiple heads or horns. I think it was the boonies that gave her more concern than the polygamy.

I visited again in 2008 driving from Virginia through to Washington for work. That time Edith had moved to a home nearer to her son Marc. I stopped to visit Marc and Cheryl and met them for the first time. Edith also came over to the house and we visited with her. Here is a photo from that visit.

Paul Ross, Cheryl & Marc Andra, and Edith.

I tried to call Edith every other year or so. Sometimes it was hard to track her down, but I typically found her and was able to call. The last time I visited with her was when Donald was sick and dying with cancer in the spring of 2016. I asked Donald if I could let some of the extended family know. He said yes. With that, I called Edith and visited with her about Sergene’s passing and Donald’s cancer. She talked about how the family was distant and she appreciated the updates. She also indicated that life continues to pass and we all end up dealing with death at some point. She reminded me of her age and she did not know where she would be next week either.

Now she is gone.

While I know there was quite a bit of angst in the family over the beliefs and separation, but despite all that I am glad I did not know of the polygamy issues and got to know the family as just that, family. Their position, beliefs, and practices at no point directly affected me in any way. I am glad I know them!

Aunt Edith, until we meet again.

Thursday, 16 August 2007 by Sagacity

TV’s and such

It seems to be one of those weeks where there isn’t necessarily a whole lot to tell. So to make an entry, and anything with a little length, I will offer a smattering of thoughts from all over the spectrum.

A big Happy Birthday to Chris Horsley and Amanda Smith on the 14th. I sent them both e-mails and wished them the best. It is my Aunt Jackie’s birthday on the 25th, so Happy Birthday ahead of time.

Tuesday night Amanda and I went to pay a visit to Doris Coley. She lives over in Laurel Fork area. Amanda has worked with her for some time at Macy’s. She lured Amanda over there in pursuit of a free TV and DVD player. I really don’t care if we own either and would actually prefer not to. That is just a little more weight I will have to worry about moving in a year and another distraction to take away some of what little time we mortals have been given. Somehow I had come to believe it was a venture where we would go over and pick up the newly acquired property and head back home. We made an evening of it. We chatted about the nice lovely pleasantries of the life at Macy’s. Conversation turned to life in general and school. Of course I did a full analysis to see if her Coley line could in any way be related to mine (Hers is several hundreds of years in North Carolina making at least that long of a connection seeing how mine came directly from England).

She had a nice little piano in her living room that also became conversation. She invited me to play it and before long I was in my own land while the women pondered paths I didn’t care to walk. Before the night had ended we sang some hymns and even ended in a discussion about religion. I ended the evening with giving her a copy of the Book of Mormon and basically a first discussion. Sometimes I feel I am not as bold as I once was. Honestly, it seems that one relies upon their companion so much to bear testimony and Amanda had no clue of the missionary ways that I think that is the only reason it felt pretty weak. Sadly, I think both of us relied on trying to convince too much rather than just bearing testimony and letting the Spirit drive it to the heart. Amanda left thinking we had been too bold and I left thinking we had not been bold enough. She called us a few days later and made sure we were still planning on coming back. Either way, we don’t seem to have offended. I look forward to a return visit and whether or not she read any of the newly introduced sacred scripture.

Tonight I paid a visit to the Family History Library outside my normal working hours. We had a pretty severe thunderstorm this evening and the two ladies working inside decided to go watch the storm for a minute. Sadly, they left their keys in the library. I rushed down thinking I would find two drowned older ladies. Luckily enough they had only locked themselves out of the library, and not the building. So I spent some time visiting with them about the Merrick’s of Maine/Massachusetts. They decided to leave early so I played the piano and practiced some singing until a member of the Stake Presidency appeared to practice basketball.

Tuesday night at the library also proved to be interesting. For the second week in a row a young man who is a recent convert came into the library to do some research. He appeared with his laptop last week with PAF newly downloaded. He started putting in his family. He is preparing to go to the temple and wanted to do some of his own names for baptisms in about two weeks. He never even knew who his Dad was last week. This week he came back with dates and places and interestingly, was able to link him into the Cosby line. Once we did that we were able to take him back to Jamestowne and even followed the line back 1,000 years. He comes from a noble line in England. He was amazed to find ancestors on both of his lines whose temple work had been done. Some as early as 1932 in the Mesa, Arizona Temple. I look forward to seeing him this coming Tuesday when we run these names through TempleReady.

Last Sunday we had our Stake Priesthood Meeting. We were introduced to the new Mission President, President Millburn. I prefer him much more than the last one. He seems much more humble and able to connect with an audience. In addition, he gave a great talk on fishing. He is an expert at it, that is for sure. Who else uses a stomach pump on a fish? President Mullins (who interrupted my singing and playing tonight) gave a talk about various topics. One was that individuals in the stake are not carrying their weight in fast offerings. I thought that was interesting. None of the other talks I remember. However, the power in the singing was easily felt.

Today I was branded again at work due to a broker’s dishonesty. A man gave me a complete sob story about why an appraisal was sufficient. He manipulated my inexperience in working someone else’s loan, added with the other person not recording what they had done, and my not being thorough enough to catch the little red flags has now cost the bank a loan which is considered a risk and investors will not buy it. Due to my approving of an updated appraisal, that wasn’t really updated, and the bank always standing by their word somebody got away with money that probably would not have been approved. Like speeding tickets with points, I have now gained my first and hope they will wear off over time… It is a good thing I no longer have access to that broker’s information for I would surely give him a phone call and let him know how sorely disappointed I am in him. At any rate, “Let God choose between me and thee and reward thee according to thy deeds.”

Terry McComb’s funeral is going to be this coming Saturday. I so wish I could be there. Alas, we can’t do everything we want in life. His obituary appeared today in the Times News. I looked at it this morning at work. I am looking forward to having my own clipping from the newspaper for my records. I guess I will just have to pay a visit to the cemetery next time I get back to Idaho. I so planned on spending a day or two in Branson on the way home for a lesson or two. I guess I won’t now, at least stay for lessons.

We are headed up to Washington, DC again this weekend to attend the temple. I am very much looking forward to it. I have very much felt my faith increase this week and my soul feeling greatly nourished after some experiences in the scriptures. 2 Peter 2 and Ether 12 were powerful this week.

We received the Church News today and I read the parts about the new Brazil Temple. I was thinking how excited President Faust must be to have the temple dedication coming up and realized he had passed away. I guess he will be there at any rate, but not with a mortal body. I wonder who will be called next. I surely hope it is someone independent from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. I certainly think tradition and order are a good thing but it is always nice to shake things up from time to time. Too often people get so rigid about the way things should be done we forget the role of inspiration being mixed in the bag. I would really like to see a President of the Church not be the most senior Apostle. How would that be for shaking things up? We need more John Winder’s, Reuben Clark’s, Jedediah Grant’s, Hyrum Smith’s, and Charles Nibley’s in the world.

Lastly, I will end on a political note. I haven’t had a political candidate really catch much of the sympathies of my heart. They seem so canned and stale I can’t stand it. However, Obama gave a comment this week about opening up government. Boy, if reading an article ever stopped my heart, that was one of them. A candidate willing to give full disclosure to the public? If that becomes his whole purpose in life, I will most certainly vote for that man. Well, that is only after he drops universal health care. After my experiences in England, will never support government ran health care. But open disclosure? How refreshing. That requires more effort. That requires doing things you know the whole country can be privy to. Where would Bill Clinton be if he had known that? How would things be different with Bush? Either of them? Watergate? Iran-Contra? New Deal? War? How would the world be different?

Ogden and Plain City

Children

The Second Family

William’s Death

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