May 30, 2011 Happy Birthday Gabe!!

What attracted you to her?

She was cute, and she was pretty, and she was fun to be around. The fact that she was also shy was a little bit of it as well I suppose. I loved to see her walking to school with her hair blowing as she walked. I was just flat out smitten by her.

May 29, 2011

Do you remember where you went on your first date with her? What was it like?

I do not remember our first date but I remember a double date we took with Lee Moon and Diane Horrocks to Roosevelt. It was the only double date that I remember ever going on and it was to a movie. I do not remember the movie or even why we did it so it must have not been really a memorable movie. I think we rode in the back seat as well but even that is not clear. We had to have ridden in the back since Lee drove. I know I didn't. Memory is just to hard to retain when it come to some 40 years ago and events that happened at that time. It is too bad that most things that you remember had a major impact or otherwise it slips from the archives of your mind all too quick.

May 28, 2011

I have had a short recess while working on the new playhouse so this post is a little late.


When, where, and how did you meet your wife? How old were both of you?

Meeting Ann and Marie at the Duchesne High School library.

My mother Ilean, was the librarian for the high school in Duchesne. We were in the process of getting a new high school in Duchesne and the old gymnasium was where the library was being located until a new wing of the school could be made and the new library located there.

So in the summer prior to the start of school in 1967 (I was then 14.) as I was getting ready to enter 8^th grade I was helping mom set up the books in the make shift shelves in the (old gym) new library. I was putting the books in alphabetical order on the shelves and mom was at the desk typing up the missing library cards for me to put into the books.

As we were working a knock came on the doors and two young girls walked in to the library. One of them was somewhat taller than the other who was obviously very shy and stood shyly behind her older sister. The older one introduced themselves as Ann, a sophomore and Marie Behrmann, a 7th grader, and that they were new to school and lived just down the road from the high school. Mom then introduced me to them I think since I don’t remember but mom wouldn’t have done anything else since she was very proper and that would have been the protcol. Well little did I know at that time that I would get to know the younger one really well and also learn to love her even more. I thought at that time that she was pretty darn cute with emphasis on the "pretty" part. That was the first time I saw her and it would not be the last. She did live just down the road and there were many times in the following four years that I would watch her as she walked to school each morning and I would be sitting on the planter box by the new library which was built the following year. I also got to know the older one and in fact we received our mission calls the same day in 1972. (That’s another story.)

May 20, 2011

Prime Adulthood (25 to 45 years old)

Dating, Courtship and Marriage

How old were you when you started dating? 

16 years 4 months and 3 days (Marie had to turn 16 first as well).

Do you remember your first date? Who was it with? What did you do?

I don’t remember specifically our first date since we had been seeing each other at dances and her home and at church and school activities. We had not dated specifically but when we could then I started picking her up and taking her home. Our first date was probably to a dance but I do remember  that we did a double date with Lee Moon and Diane Horrocks to Roosevelt to a movie. Other than that most of our dates if not to church or school activities were out to driving the back roads and spending time talking to each other.

May 19, 2011

What was the most spiritual thing that happened to you on your mission?

There cannot be an answer to that question. The mission is made up of spiritual experiences that are hard to rate from least to most spiritual. I had plenty of times where I knew the Spirit of the Lord had directed me. The second week in the mission my comp assigned me to decide where we would go tracting. I remember praying about it and thinking that I had no idea if I was truly following the direction of the Spirit or not. However then when we knocked on a door and found someone truly interested in the gospel I suddenly discovered how the Lord does answer your questions and directs you. Then the night that the ex-mormon cornered us with his stacks of books and tried to use reason to break us down I remember thinking about my patriarchal blessing and that I had been told that my testimony would be a blessing to the righteous and a condemnation to the wicked and I finally could do nothing else but bear my testimony to him and then my companion do the same and we walked out. It was a very disturbing night but in the same light helped to actually build my testimony to be even stronger.

May 18, 2011

Who set you apart?

I was set apart by my Stake President David Sam. On Sept  29^th prior to going into Salt Lake on Sept 30^th. It was fun having him, as my Stake President when I had been taught several years earlier in Seminary by him as well.

What are some of the most interesting experiences from your mission?

I had numerous special experiences in my mission ranging from watching “The Ten Commandments” with a young Baptist neighbor couple to having scorpions run into the Bishop’s office in the church during a planning meeting. We also had a woman open her door after we knocked and she had on only a robe and it was open in the front. We immediately turned around and left which is probably why she did it. I experienced five tornados while there and hail storms with golf ball size stones. I met a great fellow working on his car who invited us back and later his whole family was baptized and then later in my mission went to meeting a great fellow who was out painting his porch who invited us back because he was an ex-mormon with an agenda to convert us to be Jehovah Witness converts. I was chased by a huge dog and stung by a scorpion in our apartment. (The only way I knew was I had a black and blue spot on my leg and later that night found the scorpion under my dirty clothes bag on the floor.) I also outran (in our car) a huge storm in the pan handle of Texas returning from a zone activity that took place in an area that was in miles closer to my home town than the mission home in Dallas. I went out on large sand dunes for a P Day and rode down the 2 inch strip of no ice another time on our way to a teaching appointment. I gassed up the car every other week at 19 cents a gallon verses the other week at 21 cents a gallon because the gas stations in town had a gas war going on and then left the mission when paying close to a dollar or more per gallon because of a government caused gas shortage that had employees of oil companies being laid off because the oil tanks around the refineries were all full and the government wouldn’t let them produce gasoline.

However one experience stands out that I will relate.

We were in the Seventies quorum meeting on Sunday morning and the President of the quorum came in and read what sounded like an official document from the church stating that the Negro would now be given the priesthood. It sounded a bit strange to me but I didn’t think to much about it since it had been a long time in coming. However I was really shocked to hear the comments of two of the Brethren as the lesson continued who said that they would leave the church if it is true. I couldn’t believe their attitudes and how bitter they were toward the negro’s. The president then said it was not a real letter but the whole point of the lesson was to learn to love our brothers and sisters no matter what their color. I knew that Texas was part of the deep south and knew the hatred that the south has for the negro race but never really realized it until that day. Well in 1978  when the church came out with the actual proclamation stating that all worthy male members could be given the priesthood I thought of those two brethren and if they had removed their names from the records of the church or learned Christ like love in the last 5 years since that meeting.

May 17, 2011

Where did you serve? Which areas did you serve in? How long did you serve in each area?

I was called to the Texas North Mission in Dallas Texas, and it was later named the Texas Dallas Mission after I had served about a year and the Texas San Antonio Mission was created from our mission and the Texas South Mission then renamed as the Texas Houston Mission.

I flew into the Love Field Airport going to my mission and two years later flew out of the new DFW International Airport to return home. I had also flown into and out of Love Field during my mission as I went from Midland to Dallas for a Zone Leaders conference.

I began my service in Arlington with two companions, Elder Fernelius (Missoula Montana) and Elder Astle for a week and then Elder Astle was transferred and I had one one senior companion for two weeks. Elder Fernelius was my trainer from Oct 5 thru Oct 29th.

I then transferred to Terrell Texas with my companion Elder Monte Rex Tyler (Ririe, Idaho) from Oct 30^th thru November 30^th. We had a large area and I really enjoyed it. It was there where I dedicated my first grave. I still recall instructions given prior to that use of the Priesthood to make sure I didn’t dedicate it as a FINAL resting place for the deceased member.

I was then transferred back closer to the mission home and assigned as a trainer. I served with Elder Legrand Ellison (Provo, UT) in Garland from Nov 30^th to Jan 26, 1973. Elder Mark Humphries (Summit, Ut) was then assigned to me to be trained from Jan 26^th thru March 1 and finally in Garland Elder James Wakley (Malad. Idaho) served with me as a new missionary from March 1^st thru May 15^th. We had a huge turnover in the mission with almost 130 Elders coming into the mission within four months. That required a lot of the missionaries to be trainers shortly after arriving themselves.

I was a trainer for four months and then transferred to  Stephenville and assigned as a District Leader. I served there with Elders John Ferguson (Whittier, CA) and Elder John Segesman (Rio Del, CA). We were only a trio for one week before Elder Segesman was transferred.  Elder Ferguson was with me from May 15^th to June 5 and then Elder Steven Beckstead was with me from June 5^th thru Sept 25^th.

I was then transferred to Cleburn  with Elder John Vernon Billings (Orem, Utah) for one week (Sept 25 to Oct 2) while waiting to go to Midland in west Texas.

I was called as a co-zone leader with Elder Richard Haire (Winnepeg, Canada) and we served together from Oct 2 thru Feb 25^th. He sneezed three times without fail every morning, never two or four always three.

 I was then assigned to Pampa in the Texas panhandle as a District Leader with Elder Kevin Kimball (LeGrande, Oregon) from Feb 26^th to April 24^th. Elder Leon Bright ((Lewiston, Utah) then served with me from April 25 thru June 5^th .

My final assignment was to Grand Prairie as a trainer. Elder Roger Wilson (Denver, Colorado) served with me from June 6 to July 25^th and Elder David Maughan (Tooele, Utah from July 25^th thru Oct 1, 1974.

May 16, 2011

When were you called on a mission?

After I had completed my first year of college and working for the summer following that semester I started my papers just before my 19^th birthday. We had the papers all ready and submitted to the Bishop so that all I had left was to have my Stake Presidents interview. Well before that happened there was a Bishopric change and a new Bishop called and somehow papers were lost. I started to process again and got the papers all ready but it was now after my 19^th birthday by three weeks. Apparently though the Stake President pushed things through quickly because I had my interview and two weeks later received my call on the same day as Ann Behrmann (Bagley) received hers. I them left two weeks later for the mission home. I received my call on a Saturday, went to Provo the following Saturday to get my clothing as outlined in the call and the following Saturday entered the mission home in Salt Lake City across from the Salt Lake Temple.

I went through the temple for the first time on Oct 2 while in the mission home. We were there for less than a week from Sept 30 to Oct 4 with Elder John Peterson (Logan, UT) as my companion and then flew to Dallas to start the mission.

May 15, 2011 Playhouse

Here is Grandma's new playhouse sitting where it had been for apparently several years.

Back side

Front side

This is where it landed after being pulled across wet grass to it's pre-determined destination. (almost, we couldn't get it where we really wanted it, a couple feet further east, because of the wet grass.)

We were able to pump up the tires in order to move it, except for one that was off the rim. This is what it looked like after we got it here. The playhouse had to be emptied before we brought it due to a whole bunch of clothes that had been thrown into it.

A few more views.

This is the inside looking south toward what will be my storage part of the structure

This is the inside looking north.

The back side where we want to add a deck and then use it for photography. It has a full size door for adults.

Thanks to Scott and Jeff we now have a great start on the deck. 

Looking north from the storage area.

Looking south from what will be the loft.

Looking south from under the loft.

We are hoping that our grandchildren will be able to have a lot of fun in it.

May 14, 2011

Mission Experiences

Describe the decision process you went through before you chose to go on a mission. What motivated you to go? Was your family supportive of your decision to serve?

The process for me was so gradual that I don’t recall any specific time when I decided that I would go on a mission, it was just a given. I did love Marie but that too was not a part of changing the decision since she knew I wanted to go and would not stand in the way at all. So the process was probably growing up with the expectation to serve and the example of three older brothers and a host of their friends and mine leaving for missions before it was my time. All of my classmates that went left before I did since I was the youngest of the group.

I also was young enough that I had a full year at Snow College and thus plenty of friends there who had served missions and plenty getting ready to go and leaving after the first semester that their examples were also strong for me.

My family, of course were all supportive of it and had proven it during the years of my brothers missions. Stan went to Argentina, Clair and Lynn had both been to California.

Stan and Lynn both spoke Spanish and Clair and I were English speaking.

May 13, 2011

Military Service

There is a section on Military Service but I was never  in the military due to a draft number of about 348 or something like that which kept me safe from being drafted into the Viet Nam war. Later draft numbers in the lottery style drafting system would not have been so good but the first number was the one that counted ,

May 12, 2011

What lessons about life have you learned from your career?

To be flexible and to always do your best regardless of the job function asked to perform. Then probably most important due to the number of twists that I have had in the road down my career has been to have faith in the Lord and to be willing to let myself be led by Him. I have had enough jobs in my career to almost be counted as a jack of all trades and a master of none but I have known the Lord’s goodness in keeping me financially above water and during times of no insurance He has blessed us with good health and resources for healing children as they have had need.  The Lord is the one who I accredit for leading me down life’s path and keeping me stable. The jobs that I have had have also been ones where I could serve Him in church callings and be able to do His work as well.

May 11, 2011

How did you decide on the career path your life has taken?

A class in high school caught my attention to electronics and a scholarship to Snow for the Electronics program solidified it. I spent two years learning electronics during a time of major advances in the industry and decided to become a technician rather than an engineer since it would put me into the workforce earlier and marriage was coming right after graduation. The rest of the careers have been due to the Lord opening doors and being willing to work at whatever I was asked. Most of the photography has been self -taught because of a great interest in it.

May 10, 2011

What kinds of jobs have you had?

Of course my first job was farming and mainly feeding and milking cows, feeding the other animals, irrigating the farm, weeding the garden, cutting, raking, baling, hauling and stacking the hay and whatever else there needed to be done.

The next job I had and official one where I was paid for the work was at the Texaco station pumping gas from 10 PM to 6 AM every day for the entire summer before I went to college. I then worked for the school district for short periods of time when home from school delivering groceries to the school and during the summer mowing football field and other various things. I also worked for Jack Skewes building  fence around a mobile home park at the mouth of Indian Canyon in Duchesne. I went on my mission and then came back directly into college where I worked for the Electronics lab. I again worked for the school district when home for winter break. After graduation and marriage I worked for a TV repair company called American Television Service. I worked there for three years before leaving due to broken promises by the boss for a raise and was unemployed for about three months before applying and being hired by Signetics Corp of Utah as a maintenance tech. Signetics shut down in Dec and had announced the closure back in April so for a time I worked two jobs, graveyard at Signetics and dayshift at Kara Chocolates where I ran a truffle molding plant. I quit there again due to promises from the bosses that were not met. They had asked me to work a graveyard shift and promised to have enough chocolate to keep me busy all night. Well I had enough to keep me busy one half hour, I had worked graveyard for them several times with the same conditions and knew it was time to find new employment. I was unemployed for several months as I studied insurance sales and received my Insurance and Securities licenses. However I was not a salesman and started trying to make a living from my photography at that point but had a reputation of inexpensive prices since I had not had to depend on it for a living so I continued to go deeper into debt. I also worked for several months building safes for Fort Knox Safes. It is a locally owned gun safe company owned by the TJ James . I installed pins in the doors and put in the shelves and carpet. I quit when my photography had me missing too many days to be fair to TJ. During those years I also rewrote the Timberline (Junior Leader Training) manual for the Utah National Parks Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

I then worked for Anderson Cabinet and Mantel as a cabinet finisher. I had actually taken Hayden there following his mission to get a job for him but Brett needed someone full time and so I started working for him instead. That lasted three years until Brett bought a house and spent more time there than getting jobs and I began working only a few hours a week so I took Loren to Provo Craft since there was an ad for work in the paper that Marie had seen and he had just graduated from school and needed a job until his mission. I ended up working for Provo Craft rather than Loren because they needed someone for full time and more than just a few weeks or months. I had worked there for seven years and two months and 10 days before a restructuring of the company made me a part of a reduction in force. Back to photography until I find my next job.

May 9, 2011

What was your first job? What kind of salary were you paid?

My first job was a gas station attendant at a Texaco station in Duchesne. I have told about a few experiences there. I worked form the day after I graduated from high school every night from 10 PM to 6 AM the following morning, (7 days a week) until I went to college on Aug 13, 1971. I don’t remember how much I was paid but it seems like it was around 3 dollars an hour, I really do not remember. I had some interesting experiences while there and the following is one of them.

Texaco: Drunken friends and Vito Herrera

One of the most memorable experiences I had while working at the Texaco that had possible consequences far beyond my understanding at the time was with the bosses son and a few of his friends especially one named Vito Herrera.

It was around 1 in the morning when the son of my boss and several of his friends came into the station. We had a lot a area around the station that was all paved and made for a lot of fun if you wanted to use one of the bosses toys that he had there at the station temporarily. It was a six wheeled land and water rover vehicle. It could be driven on hard surfaces and then right out into the water where the wheels were shaped such that they worked like paddles and would then take you across the lake or whatever. It was shaped somewhat like a boat and had no top so it was more like a four wheeler or motorcycle. Sin the son felt like it was his toy he felt like he had every right to play with it. However as the one responsible for the station at night and the fact that all of his friends were drunk I felt totally different. So I called the police and then his father, I that order. The police arrived first and had things pretty well under control before Carl (the owner) arrived. So you are probably wondering why I mentioned Vito and the fact that it could have lasting potential of danger to myself. Well as Vito was being put into the patrol car he told me that he was going to kill me. I didn’t think much about it since I knew he was drunk and his younger brother and I were friends from school.

Later when I was talking to Carl about how I had handled the situation he told me I did it right and to always call the police first before him since they would be able to get there much sooner and was the right course to follow regardless of who it was causing the problem.

Well it was two or more years later when I found out how dangerous Vito really was at that time. Clair was now a highway patrolman in Duchesne and had chased Vito in his car from Duchesne to Altamont. Another patrolman also was coming from Roosevelt and was going to stop him from the other direction. There is a big hollow near Altonah where the road makes a fairly sharp curve and then goes down the one side of the ravine and back to the top on the other side. It is a fairly blind curve but due to prior knowledge of Vito’s actions and tricks Clair slowed down before getting to the curve and sure enough Vito had spilled a whole bunch of oil all over the road so that Clair’s car would not be able to turn and thus go into the ravine most likely killing Clair. Clair wrote to me in the mission-field and told me of the experience and then  explained that Vito had just gotten out of prison prior to the night I had called the police on them at the station and that he was one bad cookie and would have easily followed through on his threat that he made that night.

I am so thankful for the Lord’s watchful care for Clair and myself.

May 8, 2011

CAREER PATH AND LIFE CHOICES

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I am still the same way I was when I was a child and don’t know for sure. I loved photography but wasn’t sure I wanted to be a professional with a business to have to run and taxes to have to pay and everything that went with a business. I think when I was real young I wanted to be a farmer but also knew that was not practical either. When I was in high school is when I decided I wanted something to do with electronics and thus my course for the first 17 and a half years was in electronics. However since then I have been a chocolate maker, insurance agent, cabinet finisher, and finally photographer for a company.  So now here I am just laid off from Provo Craft and I still don’t know what I want to be. I just want anything that will pay the bills and keep me home during the week.

May 7, 2011

What important world events do you remember from this time of your life?

The Viet Nam war was the event of my life at that time. Stan had been drafted and served in Viet Nam and Clair had enlisted in the Army and became a part of the Military Police. I had been lucky or blessed to have been given a fairly high draft number so that my being drafted was not a real big threat even though it was still a possibility. It ended shortly after I was married and I even was blessed to have a very good Vietnamese friend that came to America seeking refuge from the communist government that would have killed him because of his association with the American army in his home country during the war.

Other major activities during that time were the large Hippie movements occurring through the country. Drugs were becoming a major problem. I had only really heard of alcohol and smoking problems while growing up but during the years after high school drugs became far more prevent and even some of my friends from High school became involved with them and the hippie movement. Flower children was how they were know and a large antiwar camp known as Wood Stock also took place during those years as part of the hippie community.

May 6, 2011

What were your roommates like? Tell a story about an enjoyable time you had together.

My first roommate was a young returned missionary in his second year at Snow who was  interested only in dating and finding a marriage partner along with getting his education. He was also the LDS Church Institute President that year at Snow and was always gone doing things with those responsibilities if not something else with school.  He started dating a young lady by the name of Julie Gividen that year also and she ended up taking a major part of his not so spare time. The only time I really saw much of him was in class and on Sundays as we sang with the institute choir called the LD Singers. That roommates name was Lynn Poulson my older brother. We lived in a downstairs apartment owned by Sister Andersen a special friend of my mother. I probably saw more of her than I did of Lynn that year and I spent a lot of time by myself studying or riding my bike up into the hills above Ephraim as weather permitted. The first day there we went to school right after my eagle court of honor so I was still in my scout uniform when we arrived in Ephraim and moved into the apartment. He wouldn’t let me change before we went to a dinner appointment with Ross Findlay’s family. I never knew it was a setup but it was. Ross was the Utah National Parks Council Training chairman and was very interested in the fact that I was an Eagle Scout. I spent a lot of time also that year doing scouting events at Snow with Ross. I even did a lot with him after my mission which is when he began asking when I was going to Wood Badge. He was at my wood badge camp eleven years later when I finally went. Their entire family became close friends with our family due to the number of years that we spent at snow. All of my brothers and sisters attended snow except for Alma.

May 5, 2011

Happy Birthday Leilah!!


Did you attend any school or training after high school? How many years of education have you completed?
I attended Snow College, a two year college. I attended in 1971-72 and 1974-75 years earning an Associate of Applied Sciences degree in Electronic Technology. It was during the years of major changes in that field. I left after the first year when we still used a slide rule for calculations to go on an LDS mission to Texas and returned to a program where we now used handheld calculators. I ended my education at that time since I was qualified to enter the workforce and was planning to get married and felt it best to start working full time in an electronic career. I worked in it for 18 years until the second company that I was employed with closed down in Utah and moved their operations to New Mexico.

Did you have any college degrees or training certificates? From where? What was your major or area of study?
As I stated I earned an AAS degree in Electronics from Snow College. My only major was Electronic technology.

May 4, 2011

EARLY ADULTHOOD 18-25 YEARS
YOUNG ADULTHOOD


Describe your personality as a young adult?
I was shy. However when I was comfortable around someone then I liked to laugh and have fun. I was what I though was witty but proved not to be such a lot of times. I was pretty even tempered and seldom got mad or real angry and tended to hold things in rather than make a scene or embarrass someone because of what they might have done to me.

May 3, 2011

PRIESTHOOD ORDINATIONS

What dates were you ordained to offices in the priesthood? Who ordained you? Where did the ordination take place?

Deacon:  22 Aug 1965    Kermit Poulson

Teacher:  20 Aug 1967 Kermit Poulson

Priest:  17 Aug 1969 Kermit Poulson

Elder: 23 Sept 1972 Kermit Poulson

High Priest:  30 June 1985   Richard Smoot Nixon

Set apart as Bishopric 2^nd Counselor same time.

What are some interesting experiences in connection with these ordinations?

The best part is that my father was the one who performed almost all of them. He was deceased when I was ordained a High Priest. He set a great example for me by being there with me as I grew in the priesthood. I attended conference, stake and ward priesthood meetings with him while growing up. 

May 2, 2011

Seminary

What did you enjoy most about your favorite classes?

I must admit that I enjoyed the object lessons best. It was fun to put on the devotionals but it was probably not my favorite part of the class. I read the Book of Mormon for the first time because of Seminary and have learned to love it far more than I did then. (Hard to admit but true.) I look back now and wish I had put even more effort into seminary even though I did get straight A’s from those classes.

What special events or activities do you recall?

I had the opportunity to be on the seminary council for a couple of years. We had a lot of fun activities like hay rides in the fall and dances once in a while. The socials were always fun but that was probably more because Marie was there than the fact that it was a seminary activity. We did have one hay ride where we went up snow draw which was located by the airport above our home. I was probably the most instrumental in getting it there since that is where I always ran for training and was one of my favorite spots. Besides that it made the ride a couple of miles long.

What did you feel was the most important thing you gained from your seminary experiences?

The most important thing I got from seminary had to be a knowledge of the gospel that was learned from daily events rather than just on Sunday at church. It required reading the scripture which I most likely would have never done on my own even though I lived in a home where the gospel was a major part of our living experiences.

May 1, 2011

Which was your favorite classes or teachers?

I liked all of my classes and was lucky to have two great teachers over the course of those 6 years. Brother Sam was my teacher the first two years. He was also a local lawyer and I remember him most because of his story about his conversion to the gospel when he hitchhiked from the south to BYU to go to school where he learned of the gospel and was converted. He hitchhiked because of a lack of funds. His family was originally from Hungary and later in life the church asked him to go there to help open the country for missionary work. He later became my stake president and was the president when I was called to serve my mission. Brother Neil Decker was the other teacher that I had for the last four years. He loved to teach with object lessons and spent many hours in preparing for them. I remember one where it took an entire summer to grow a cucumber inside of a narrow necked bottle. Of course we couldn’t figure out how he got it in the bottle because it was far to big to have put it in there after it was grown but the object was to teach how we let little things become part of us slowly day by day until hey are so much a part of us that they cannot be removed easily. Good ones we don’t want to remove but bad ones we do and it is then very difficult. He later compiled the lessons into a book and gave one to Marie and I for our wedding.