April 27, 2010

The question for today was answered yesterday. It was what did I do with what I stoe and did I get caught. So I will just put in another story today.

This story has to do with Tithing Settlement and one very special one in my adulthood.

Some of you may have been present when it happened.

Tithing Settlement $4,000 due

It was this time of year in 1983 (Christmas Time) when we had only been in this home for about 6 months when it came time for Tithing Settlement. As I was preparing my records so that I could go to Tithing Settlement I was thinking for some reason about the things that Mom and Dad had always taught us about paying tithing. Mom always felt that we should learn to round up instead of just paying an exact tenth since that would help cover things that we might have forgotten to pay tithing on during the year such as gifts and other things. As I was thinking about the gifts part my mind suddenly remembered the parcel of land that had been deeded to us that year so that we could build our house. I was suddenly sick since I had always had tried to pay a full tithe. I remembered talking with a convert to the church in Texas while I was on my mission who was then a Seventy in the ward. He told me how that principle of the gospel had been hard for him to accept but once he did he had been blessed so many times for following it that he wanted us as missionaries to use him as an example when teaching investigators about how true the principle really was for him and would be for them. It has always interested me how some things seem to stick in your memory and that one had even though I had always believed in tithing and never had a problem with it in my life. Then as I struggled with this new problem the thought of that good Brother in the mission field came back to me with great strength and power. I knew I would need to pay that tithing but also new that it would be $4,000.00 and I didn’t have anywhere near that amount that I could pay that day. I really didn’t know what I would do but decided to tell the Bishop and see what he would suggest to me. So we went to tithing settlement and as the children finished declaring that they had paid a full tithe and Marie then did so as well then I told the Bishop that I could not declare it since we had forgotten to pay tithing on the land. He then asked it’s worth and I told him $40,000.00. He then suggested that I start next year and pay $400.00 per year for ten years until I had it paid. He stated that he felt the Lord would feel OK about that. So for ten years I faithfully paid an extra $40.00 per month for ten months of the year until the 10 years had passed. The interesting part of this story is that at the end of that 10 years Signetics shut down and my ability to pay the extra ended with the loss of that income and the lower earnings that I ended up making for the next ten years. At the end of that period I ended up going to work for Provo Craft and for the first time since Signetics shut down once again had a steady income.

April 26, 2010

Last early bird.

Did you ever take something that wasn’t yours?

Yes and got caught. It was from my family’s tithing bank. I didn’t think I was stealing because I replaced the money with a same amount. I was just collecting dimes so I would take the dimes and put nickles back instead of the same value. Mom however helped me to understand that it still wasn’t right without the other person’s permission. It was easy to do because we all had a separate small bank that was together with all of the other ones in the same box. I didn’t do it anymore after that. It is interesting to note however that the dimes that I did collect over several years I took into the bank for safe keeping not realizing that they would just put them back into circulation. When I went to get them they explained that I would have needed to put them into a safe deposit box. It was 1964 and that year the US government cheapened the dime by sand-witching them. The put zinc in the center then silver on the outside. The value of the dime and also quarter’s were far less after that and I wished many times over that I hadn’t taken those several rolls of dimes to the bank.

April 25, 2010

I am doing a couple early since I may not have internet access the next few days while on assignment in California.

Tell about the first time that you were ever behind the wheel of a car?

I think that this should have been stated as “behind the wheel of a vehicle”.

I drove the truck many times before I was legally able to drive simply because we used them in farming a lot. I was never out on public roads behind the wheel until I was 15 and in Driver’s Education but I drove a tractor and truck for several years prior to that from about the time that I was 8 or 9.

I do remember though in Driver’s ed going with Coach Josie in the cars from Duchesne to Altamont and Roosevelt. We mainly went to Roosevelt because it was large enough to give us a little feel for city driving. I had problems also regulating the speed up and down the hills. When driving the tractor it was mostly on level fields and up to the yard, not much need to constantly pushing and lifting your foot on and off the gas pedal. It didn’t take very long though to get use to it and I didn’t go home crying as Leesa had after her experience driving with Josie. She was a year ahead of me and he use to make her so scared of driving that she would come home crying and that made me a little nervous to do it a year later but my previous experience behind the wheel made it a lot easier for me.

April 24, 2010

I am doing a couple early since I may not have internet access the next few days while on assignment in California.

Where were your best hide-and-seek places?

Around the side of the lawn behind the hedge which hid the clothesline from plain sight and around the back side of the house. We played what are now referred to as night games very often during the summer months. We would wait until it got dark and although we had different names for different variations of the game it was pretty much hide and seek. The variations were “Kick the Can” where you had to get back to the starting point and kick a can that was sitting there before you got touched by the person that was it. Then there was the game of “No bears are out Tonight” which was one that generally was a bit more scary since we really did have bears out there and pretending they were there was almost too much. Again you had to get back to the starting point before the bear touched you and you then also became a bear until only one person was left. The reason I liked the back of the house so much though was because it took long enough to get around it without making noise that you usually won by default, everyone else was captured by the time you made it around without making any noise. Plus you were coming back from a totally different side from where they heard you run off from.

April 23, 2010

Did you have any superstitions?

Well I don't consider myself as ever having any but I did find myself never intentionally stepping on a crack since that "would break your mother's back". (Don't step on a crack or you will break your mother's back.) It was an old saying that I have no idea of where it's origin came from nor do I really care but it was a part of me from something. It is the only one I was ever told that seemed to stick in my memory. Mom never had a broken back so I must have done OK.
I suppose I did participate in other superstitions because as I think about it "I try not to walk under a ladder, I don't consider black cats bad since I can always find some white on them somewhere, and I do knock on wood once in a while. However Friday the 13th is never an unlucky day because of having a birthday that often falls on a friday the 13th. It is a great day for me.

April 22, 2010 Happy Birthday, Brittany

What is the biggest physical problem that you had to deal with.

Perthes Disease

Perthes is a condition in children characterized by a temporary loss of blood supply to the hip. Without an adequate blood supply, the rounded head of the femur (the " ball " of the " ball and socket " joint of the hip) dies. The area becomes intensely inflamed and irritated.

Although the term 'disease' is still used, Perthes is really a complex process of stages. Treatment of Perthes may require periods of immobilization or limitations on usual activities. The long-term prognosis is good in most cases. After 18 months to 2 years of treatment, most children return to normal activities without major limitations.

Perthes disease usually is seen in children between 4 years and 10 years of age. It is five times more common in boys than in girls. It was originally described nearly a century ago as a peculiar form of childhood arthritis of the hips.

The above quote from the internet is the explanation of a disease that I had at age three. Clair had it also at age two I believe. The thing that sticks in my mind about this disease was the fact that I had a brace that attached to my waist at the top and to a shoe at the bottom. My bedroom at the time was upstairs and the brace kept my leg straight so that I could not bend it at the knee. However by standing to the left side of the stairs I could swing my leg up to the next step and swing up by bracing my body against the wall. Later I was even able to do it without having to lean against the wall. Although I only wore the brace for a year or so it affected my walking in such a way that I had to wear special corrective shoes until I was 19 years old to keep me from walking over one side of the shoe.

April 21, 2010

What was your favorite book as a youth.

Old Yeller I suppose. Mom always got book from the reading book clubs at school so we were always able to get two or three books each time. They were paper back books but I still read many of them and even kept a lot of them when I got married. I have always loved books once I start getting into them but was never really anxious to start one. Now how ever I love reading Clair’s books and will often read them in one day if possible.

April 20, 2010

Did you ever write something that you were really proud of?

Nope, I think Clair and Lynn must have taken all of those talents before I came along.

April 19, 2010

Tell about any sports you played in Jr and Sr High.

The main sports that I played in High school were Cross Country, wrestling and track where I competed in school events. I ran the Cross country in the fall. We strived to get 5 minute miles and usually got that for the first mile and then hitting closer to 5.5 the second mile and 6 the third. We ran up and down hills on some courses which made the time change a little but it was mostly around a 5.5 minute average. Then during the winter for one year only I wrestled. I pretty much hated that sport and didn’t do it anymore other than in gym to help out the wrestlers who needed someone to practice with. Then in the spring I ran the half mile, and also the mile relay once in a while running the half my relay also. I never tried out for basketball but did play church basketball for several years. I had the most fun doing those games since there really wasn’t any state championships to have to worry about. Soccer wasn’t invented when I was that young or at least our schools never had soccer teams and I didn’t even know it was a sport until my children were of age to play it.

April 18, 2010 Hello Is anyone there?

Is anyone reading this?

If "Yes" why are you not replying with your facts?

So why should I continue? Let me know if it has meant anything to you or not, if not, I do have other things to do with my time.

Like write my personal history which you will probably not have time to read either. Maybe I will turn it on to my brother's and sisters so I can get correct facts.

Now on with today's question.

Tell about the best birthday present you ever received.

A Birthday Party. Here is the story.

15th Birthday Party.

I have had several birthday parties to remember but the first one that had left an impression far too strong to forget was my 15^th one. As many of you know it is a standard in the church to not date before you are 16 years old so this birthday was pretty important since my girlfriend and I could not date. I remember going out to do chores and coming in to change my clothes and spend the evening doing I didn’t know what. As I entered the back porch and put away the milking items and the milk I started down the steps to the basement where my room was located. Little did I know that Marie Behrmann was scurrying as fast as she could to exit through my room and out the door on the other side so that I wouldn’t see her. She had come to throw a surprise birthday party for me and before long I was surrounded by several of my friends from school and of course my only true love Marie. I only remember Marie, Serena, and Don of my friends that were there and of course my sisters but I am sure that there must have been others. I only remember playing a couple of games as well but I will always remember being told how close I had come to seeing Marie at the bottom of those steps before I was suppose to know that she was even there. We started dating after she was 16 on the 16^th of December a full year and a half later and I can’t remember if we even had a party for her but I know that now I am glad that she was willing to be my girlfriend and later my wife and eternal companion. We have both had a lot of birthdays since then and some of them with parties and I will always remember my 15^th birthday party first when I think back on them.