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.

Apr 30. 2011

Where did you attend seminary?
I attended seminary from 7th grade to 12th grade in Duchesne, Utah. The first two years were only half years but they were offered for us then. It was in an old seminary building that sat on the south end of the high school lot. It always reminded me of an old one room school. After the new seminary building was built it was moved to the fair grounds and became the first senior citizen building for Duchesne. The last four years were in a new seminary building north of the high school. It was located just half way between the high school and the elementary school. We had our lunch in the elementary school so we always liked it when our seminary class was 4th period just before lunch. We could get to the first of the line that way.

April 29, 2011

Tell about a memorable campout.

See the answer to this one as given in my blog on 2/10/2011.

Also in the blog on 4/11/2010

Here is another one as written in my history.

Chasing Muskrats at Palisade lake and pudding

When I was a youth in scouting I really enjoyed going on the summer camps. I think I went into the Granddaddy basin for about four years. I remember going to Palisade lake three times and to Governor Lake once. As an adult I went back into the basin and went to Pine Island Lake and hiked back with my scouts to Palisade and Governor lakes.

I had a lot of special experiences in these trips of my youth and adulthood.

One such experience was at Palisade Lake. Near the lake on one side are some cliffs that are above the water by 20 feet or so as I remember it. We camped both times near those ledges. One night when we were there we were in the process of cooking our supper. I had taken a pudding mix with me and was going to eat it that night. I remember being puzzled by how I was going to mix that pudding. I had a spoon but no bowl to mix it in and I wasn’t sure what I would do. Finally I hit upon the perfect plan and I must admit it was perfect. I had decided to put the milk into my canteen and then add the pudding mix, shake it up well and pour it out before fully setup. So I poured in the milk and then added the mix and was shaking away when someone came into camp and told us they could se a muskrat just below the cliffs. I put down the canteen and went with the others out to see the animal and try to figure out where it lived. It was a lot of fun but we only succeeded in chasing it out into the lake to where it finally dove under and we had no idea where it came back up. Satisfied that we had seen the end of it for that evening we went back to our supper preparations and eating. When I got back I found that I had another hurdle to jump in my food consumption. The pudding had setup in the canteen and I couldn’t shake it out. I finally took my table knife and dug it out one scoop at a time. The blade was just narrow enough to fit through the hole. There was only a little of it that would come through the opening of the canteen so needless to say the process was extremely slow. I think I probably only ate about half of it before giving up and washing the rest of it out. I don’t think that I ever took pudding mix again. Must admit though that what I got to eat was good.

April 28, 2011

Were you involved in Cub and Boy scouting? What Rank did you achieve?

I was always a scout it seemed. I earned my Bobcat, Wolf, Bear, Webelos and Arrow of Light awards as a cub scout. I earned my Tenderfoot, 2^nd class,  1^st class, Star, Life and Eagle Awards as a Boy Scout.

What was your favorite merit badge to earn? Why?

I would say my camping merit badge. I enjoyed every campout and loved every one of them. I also learned many things about the world of nature around me as I got to go out camping. I have been lost on a campout, swam in mountain lakes, hiked in the rain, signaled messages across a like and won a contest doing it, learned to cook in a reflector oven and sleep on rocks. Of course I have since learned how not to sleep on rocks but it did make those camps very memorable. I also learned how you can hike right over a trail and not know it is there unless you are watching your surroundings and looking in every direction as you hike. I have learned not to make instant pudding in a water canteen because it sets up and you can’t spoon it out. I have learned how to not have to stay up all night drying out a wet sleeping bag because I properly waterproofed it when packing up for the camp. I probably learned more form the requirements of that one badge alone than all of the others.

Britt's Easter Bday Party

Tia was pretty proud of some of the places she hid the eggs. They seemed to have more fun hiding than finding but then they also experienced the problem of having to remember where they hid them which is the hardest part.

Tia did it again with a fantastic cake, a Skittle machine.

We then held a frog jumping contest while waiting to start.

This had to be the winning spot to hide an orange egg.

Alex loved the whistling that Cat was doing for him.

April 27, 2011

What was the dumbest thing you did to impress a girl? Was she actually impressed?

 I cannot remember anything that I ever did to impress a girl although I am sure it had to have happened. I do remember things that I did to be in places where I could be around girls I liked but I cannot remember any stunts that I may have pulled.

April 26, 2011

What was the name of the first girl you liked? Did you ever go on a date with her?

Ione Hooper, Never dated her just secretly liked her when I was in elementary school.

Apr 25, 2011

Did you have a mentor or friend you admired and followed? Is there one person who really changed the course of your life by something that person said or did?

Wow how do you limit your choices to just one person? I have a good friend who always said: “it takes a village to raise a child.”  Well that was certainly the way it was growing up in Duchesne. I had a lot of mentors and friends. Just to list a few : Harold Spencer, Steve Asay, Leland and Carol Wright, Neil Jensen, Ray and Donna Hansen, Lowell and Beverly Caldwell, Jinx Ivie, Mont  Poulson, Milton and Pauline Poulson  Nana (Grandma Poulson), Jack Skewes,  Art and Pauline Taylor, Nadine Wimmer, Glen Stevenson, Trooper Hooper,  Trooper Phil Barney, Doug Horrocks. That is only a drop in the bucket too. There was one who does stand out and of whom I have told the story many times to scouts trying to earn their eagle. Bev Caldwell moved to town when I was a Senior in high school and she was a member of our ward. She was also a professional lifeguard and after graduation she worked with me all summer to teach me to swim and earn my swimming and life saving merit badges. I earned my eagle rank because of her. There were a lot along the way who had helped me but she was there at the point where no one else had been able to help and she cared enough to take the time to do it with me. I had me Eagle Board of Review on Aug 4, 1971 and my Eagle Court of Honor on Aug 13, 1971 and left for college as soon as the program was over. I now help boys who are almost 18 and have not quite gotten over the hump whenever possible because of her. Her influence has reached far beyond the realms of just one scout.

Good Morning pictures from Jan 2010.