Oct 30, 2011

Learn well the Rules of Your Youth.

Life has a way of teaching some valuable lessons to us. One being “Rules of your youth also apply to your adulthood.”

Marie and I have not been married for 34 years. I cherish the time that we have been able to spend together and the love that we have for each other. That 34 years of course has not been void of it’s challenges for each of us and it has been many times that I have heard her say to me “We don’t seem to be having a very good relationship” or something to that effect. Now I have been a typical male and thought things were going great but she has had things missing in the relationship that I just didn’t understand. I have worked hard to change that and can now say that I haven’t heard those statements for several years and hope not to if I can avoid it. Some of the things which helped foster those feeling was my lack of doing the dishes and other household chores. When we were married Marie became pregnant on our honeymoon and Ben was born 3 weeks premature just 8 and a half months later. I was working for a TV repair shop and required to be on the job from early in the morning until the job was done which many times was till late at night. I felt as though I didn’t ever get to see her or Ben until Saturday and Sunday. When I would try to help with the dishes or whatever she would always chase me away and say that it was her job not mine and I finally quit offering and found other things to do. That was a big mistake but one that I made and it has taken years to be able to occasionally help with the dishes. We did always go grocery shopping as much together as possible and I always liked to take her with me when doing errands in the car or being required to go somewhere for something when I could take her along. However our love for each other has been challenged several times.

One particular instance started when another member of the ward took a liking to her and found ways to talk to her and be with her even though I might have even been there as well. During the years that I worked on swing shift he would call her from his shop and talk to her for long periods of time knowing she was home without me there. The occasional times he would call and I would answer when I was there didn’t seem to puzzle me for long because he always had something to ask me about and then would hang up. The there was a ward adult party where we met as couples and left babysitters with our children for the night. We had gone up to a cabin in Hobble Creek and had a great evening meal and then settled in for games and eventually as movie. It was a bit chilly so we had blankets that we put over us as we watched the movie and I was on one side of Marie and this fellow had sat on the other with his wife next to him. It wasn’t unusual to me because I was their family home teacher and knew them both fairly well or so I thought. It ended up that while we were watching the movie had had his hand high up on her leg and was caressing her during the time on the couch. This is why I titled this story as this ws one of those lessons from our youth “Never sit under covers together when dating while watching a movie.”  I never knew this had happened for several years or that he was calling her late at night but have always been thankful that she loved me enough to stick with me during those tempting times for her. He eventually moved on to another woman in the ward to whose family he was assigned as Home teacher and broke up that marriage. Then ended up with his own marriage broken and living out of his car.

I too have had a challenge that I never recognized until later. I had become friends during this same period of time with a divorced young mother that worked at Signetics on the same shift. I was a supervisor over the work crew repairing the  manufacturing equipment and had 5 or six men whom I was responsible for during that shift. One of the fellows was single and quite liked this woman and she would often talk to me about their relationship. I would “counsel” her about the relationship as though I really knew how to do it and unknown to myself he was somewhat jealous of the time I would talk to her not knowing that I was talking to her for his sake. Then there were a couple of times that she became scared that someone was stalking her and following her home to Spanish Fork after the shift was over at midnight so a couple of times I followed her to her apartment and waited for her to go in before going on home to Mapleton. She had even invited me in to the apartment as well but both times I told her I would stay in the car until I saw her light come on and then I would leave. I was tempted to go in with her but knew that I had a far better girl waiting at home for me. Later my employee told me in an interview for a raise that he thought that I was trying to get her from him for myself. I was shocked because I had never wanted to do that and told him that and then a few months later was invited to their marriage. I thought that I had really helped cement the relationship for them however when looking back realize just how close I had come to falling in love with her at the expense of my own marriage. Then a few years later learned that they had divorced and I have often wondered if she was really after me rather than him. Thus a second lesson was learned again that applied from my youth to “Always remember who you are and do the right thing”.

Well I have been grateful that I learned these and many other rules in my youth. I also am thankful that they apply even more once you are married and have found one that you can be eternally happy with and deeply in love with as well. But my reason for telling these stories is that you must always remember those rules that applied during your dating years and during your youth because they apply even more if you want to have a lasting relationship. Life is not as shown on TV and those who fool around texting, calling, sitting next to under blankets in the most causal of circumstances or even trying to counsel for all the right reasons will loose that which is most precious, a wonderful partner whom you must have once loved or you wouldn’t have decide to marry the first time. Love is something that has to be constantly nurtured and never left to chance or left alone. I love you Marie and thank you for all the wonderful years together that we have had and hope to still have.

Oct 29, 2011

Almost accident in Moat's pool.

One of the worst jobs of two that I specifically remember as a youth growing up on a farm was weeding the garden and mowing the lawn. This was prior to when I began milking and feeding the cows and doing the hay in the summer. I remember that we had a huge garden and it was at least 100 acres large. Now of course that is stretching the truth by 99 and ¼ acres but to a young kid it was way too much. The lawn was pretty close to the same size as well and we used a push mower, without a motor attached to it as happened in later years of my childhood. (And oh what a great day that was.)

Anyway I remember a particular day so very well that I am often reminded of it and was especially reminded of it during my years of service in Scouting. My older brother Lynn and I had been assigned to weed the corn. (99 of those 100 acres) Those rows looked so long and it was at least 150 degrees outside as well, Ok maybe 95 to 98 degrees, and I was not in the mood to weed the garden after all it was summertime and you were supposed to have fun in the summer. Well as luck would have it my brother had a friend, David Moat, whose family lived down off the hill from our farm and they were very, very rich. I judged that by the fact that they had an outdoor swimming pool. Well David had asked Lynn to come swimming in their pool that day and mother agreed that he could but with two stipulations, 1. That he weed the corn first and 2. That he take me along as well. I still don’t remember why Leesa wasn’t invited but knew that I was.  So Lynn and I worked really hard getting the corn weeded. I am sure as I look back at other times when I have weeded the garden that on that particular day I probably didn’t do the best job of weeding that I might have done in later years. But it was not very long, maybe 40 hours, really 2 hours later that we were headed down to David’s place to go swimming.

Now I was raised as I stated on a farm and with no swimming pool but we did have a canal that ran behind the house up a little ways on the hill. We would go swimming in it almost daily (and I never ever got sick from all that bacteria that was surely in the somewhat dirty and muddy water) after chores were done, usually weeding the garden and mowing the lawn since that was when we would need it the most. So I was a great swimmer in 2 to 2 and a half feet of water.  That particular day though I would discover that I wasn’t a great swimmer at all when it came to 8 feet of water.

We were swimming in David’s pool and I was enjoying the shallow 3 foot end quite well but kept getting told to come into the deep end. Well I finally relented and with a great deal of trepidation and fear jumped from the edge out into the deep end of the pool. Lynn and David then promptly decided they were done and got out of the pool and went into the house leaving me there fighting for my life in the deep end of the pool. (I was only 10 or 11 years old as I remember.) I remember the fear that I had of the water as I would start to sink into the pool’s murky depths and the struggle to come back to the top of the water and desperately try to make the edge where I could hang on and crawl out. Well as you can tell I didn’t drown but I did gain a very healthy respect for water and leaving children alone in it. I finally made the edge and probably didn’t even get my hair wet by anything other than splashing water on it and then went into the house. I didn’t drown as so thought that I surely would.

I didn’t like water much after that and didn’t spend time in it other than the continued splashing in the canal and taking occasional baths as required by mom at least until I was 17 years old. I had earned everything I needed to become an Eagle Scout by the age of 14 except my Eagle Scout service project and two merit badges. Yes the only two required badges that I didn’t have were swimming and lifesaving. At that time scouting did not have alternate badges that could be earned if you were not a swimmer so they had to be done. Then at age 17 Sister Caldwell moved into the ward with her husband and family and she was a highly trained swimming lifeguard. Somehow she discovered that all I lacked was those two merit badges and took me on as a special assignment. I had graduated from high school, lost a good friend and fellow classmate, John, to a drowning accident in the new Starvation lake just up river from Duchesne the day after graduation and had given up on ever earning the rank of Eagle Scout. Sister Caldwell however changed that for me and we went swimming,  pretty much everyday, for that rest of that summer in either Starvation reservoir, the Roosevelt Pool or the Price pool until I earned those last two very difficult badges. I have many times told this story to young men who were close to the Eagle Rank when I took them on a special projects as well. I can now say I am not deathly afraid of water, even though I still have a very healthy respect for it, and I am so thankful for a friend who cared enough to take me on as a special project. I don’t take non-swimmers on as projects but refer them to professionals but I have helped several make the last efforts to complete the requirements of the Eagle Scout Rank and have seen and felt the joy of giving that service. Thank You Sister Caldwell.

I have written the same stories now several times and here is another version to see if my memory is the same. I guess I need to figure out how to title them so I know when they have been completed.

Growing up on a farm had some distinct disadvantages that later in my life as I was preparing to leave the farm were finally somewhat resolved. Really growing up on a farm had a lot more advantages than many of those who live in the city have but when it came to swimming I almost lost out. My Brother had a good friend that lived down in the river bottoms from our home. We could walk to his place in just a few minutes and play there with the friend and his sister who was my age. One summer morning it was very hot outside and Lynn’s friend had invited us to go down to their home and go swimming. They had an outdoor pool and it was a fun place to cool off. We mostly swam in the canal above our home but it was only 2 feet deep so to really swim wasn’t an option. We could float for a coupe miles on inner tubes and we could wade and splash and cool off and just kind of really get dirty since the canal water wasn’t really very clean.  This particular day though we liked the offer to go down to the pool where the water was a little deeper and a whole lot more fun. Mom however decided that in order to get the corn weeded that she would require that we finish about four to six rows of corn each and then we could go. Now that seems like a pretty small task but to us it was huge since we didn’t like to weed the garden and the fact that the corn was so small still it would have to be weeded more carefully than if it were late in the summer after the corn was tall and would also offer some shade or relief from the sun. We did get it done and I don’t recall how long it took although I am sure for me at that time it seemed like hours but it was probably only two or three in reality.  We completed the task and I should probably add that I don’t know how well it was completed but at least we made an effort and then we grabbed our swimming trunks and headed down through the fields and off the edge of the hill to where the pool sat waiting for us. Little did I know what was about to happen or I would probably have headed to the canal instead that wasn’t so deep or so fun.  I had never learned to swim and as we swam that day I stayed in the shallow end of the pool where it was only three to four feet deep. Being only around  10 or 11years old I was not that tall either so even those depths offered a challenge to my non-swimming capabilities. Lynn and David Moat, Lynn’s friend, however often chided me to go into the deep end and learn to swim. When I finally did jump in the deep end and started to sink to the bottom they decided they were tired and got out and went into the house. I am sure if Dave’s dad would have known there would have been some no swimming days ahead. I did however go back to the surface scared as could be and I am sure that I must have looked like a frantic windmill waving my arms through the water in an effort to get back to safety. I was sure that I was going to drown that day and in a way I did because I developed a fear of water that I have to literally overcome each time I enter a swimming pool. I did learn to swim as I kind of alluded too in the beginning of this story. When I was 17 I was not yet an Eagle Scout and I was not because I could not swim and two merit badges were required at that time which were Swimming and Life Saving. I could now kind of swim but as I also mentioned I was very afraid of the deep water. Sister Caldwell however moved into the ward and upon discovering that I was so close to the Eagle and had only those two badges she determined it was time for me to learn. She was a professional lifeguard and very qualified to teach me to swim so after I graduated from High School she made sure that through almost daily swimming in one of three places I would learn to swim. It was either Starvation Reservoir, the Roosevelt pool or the Price pool. I also had a job at the Texaco in town from 10 PM to 6 AM every night of the week so the swimming was either early in the morning or early enough at night that I could get back to my job at 10:00 pm. I learned to swim and learned to not be afraid of the water as much as I had been but I do still respect the water very much and know that it can take you all too quickly if you are not on your guard or have someone else who is there for that reason. I do now love to swim even though as I stated earlier there is a small battle that rages in my mind each time prior to taking that first plunge into the pool.

I guess it really doesn't matter if I do write them twice as the information is almost the same, just a little different due to the mood and circumstances as I am writing each version.

Oct 28, 2011

My first week long summer scout camp.

 I recently wrote the story about my first campout as a Scoutmaster and a mistake I made in behalf of one of the scouts, Aaron Ford. Well today’s story is a continuation of that event and about the first summer camp with the scouts as a Scoutmaster. I had planned a trip into the High Unitahs where we would hike 50 miles from in the Yellowstone drainage to the base of King’s Peak. I had four leaders with me the first three days after which one would leave and I would complete the camp with the other two. It was going to be a rather tough hike and I wanted to have the boys ready for it and explained several times the details. They were all ready to go except Aaron. After our first experience he told me he couldn’t go on this week long camp but would stay home. I was so excited to say the least besides that Jeffery wanted to go again and so I was going to have fun an this camp with he and Ben. We made all the preparations during troop meetings and I gave everyone lists of what they were to take with them and what they were not to take with them. Aaron never took any of the lists because he wasn’t going anyway. We talked about how to put your meals in zip lock bags for each meals and label them so that you would be sure to have enough but not too much. Aaron ignored this because he wasn’t going anyway.  We talked about not carrying canned food or too much candy and to have purifiers for water and adequate clothing for all kinds of weather since I knew that rain happened quite often during these types of camping. Aaron didn’t worry about any of that either.

Well the time for the camp drew closer and I asked Aaron several times if he was going on the camp and if situations had changed because even though I inwardly felt great about his decision I did not want to leave anyone home. At 11:30 the night before we were to meet at the church at 5 A.M. I got a call from Aaron’s mom asking what Aaron needed to bring because she was sending him on the camp the next morning and she needed to go to the store to get his food. I went over the same things with her as far as was possible considering the lateness of the hour and the hour of departure fast approaching us. I was still hoping that he was not going.

The next morning arrived and so did Aaron after we had waited almost a half hour for him.  That didn’t start the camp off very well but at least we were finally going. We arrived at Yellowstone campground near Altamont, Utah and prepared for our hike up Swift Creek to Farmer’s Lake area below King’s Peak. The one vehicle that had brought part of the troop soon left and would return at 11 am on Saturday morning when we would be there also to meet them.

We loaded our backpacks onto our backs and began our trek up the most rocky trail that I had ever experienced in my entire life. I was told it was a good trail, a little bit difficult but not really too bad and I believed it much to my dismay later that day.  Knowing now what I do I would have hiked the opposite direction that week. Jeffery got tired quickly as would any 10 year old but I had kept his pack quite light and thus made him continue to carry it. Then about 5 miles in he was done despite the frequent stops for rests that all of us quite liked except the oldest boys in the troop who wanted to keep going. Jeff had had enough though and refused to go another step. He even took off his pack and went back down the trail and I was beginning to regret my decision to take him at that age. Ben was doing great and the two years of maturity seemed to be a valuable asset. I finally couldn’t seem to get through to Jeff but left him to think about it while I took care of some other needs of the boys. When I went back to where he had been I couldn’t find him so I went back down the trail enough to know he wasn’t there and finally started back up the trail. I had the other adults looking for him and later received word from one of them that he was ahead of us on the trail. He in fact was pretty proud of the fact that he had beat me to Deer Lake a long time before I finally arrived with the last scout. We camped the first night there and then continued on to Farmer’s lake the next day.  We stopped at one lake as Jeff was now willing to hike with me again and did some fishing. Jeff caught a small trout that we had for lunch. So far Aaron had been a real trooper and was apparently not going to be any trouble as I had so feared he might. I did keep seeing grunts candies along the trail though and picked them up so that I could teach a lesson to the boys that night at camp about leaving trash in the wilderness even though it was biodegradable. It was not good for the wild animals at the very least.  We got to Farmer’s lake and spent our first night there. I talked to the boys and then discovered that it was Aaron’s candy that I had been picking up along the trail. I figured that I would hold on to it until a later time for campfire lessons.

The next morning Brother Richard Baird, Jeff and I went for a hike to see what the area was like in the Farmer’s Lake basin. I also wanted to know how difficult it was going to be to cross over Bluebell Pass to Milk Lake. We ended up having a great hike only carrying our water and staves. We went to the top of the pass and Richard and Jeff rolled rocks down off the cliffs. I was quite bothered by it but since we could see the entire distance that they rolled I went ahead and let them do it. We had a great time but it made me change my mind on where we would spend that night. We hiked back along a shorter trail to camp where I told the boys to break camp and  we would be hiking to the base of Bluebell Pass for the night. We did our usual camp clean and then I asked them to help clean out some of the fire pits where people had left cans and bottles in the fire pits and then we would carry them the 100 yards down to the Fire Guard station where they would carry them out of the basin on horses. I asked Aaron to help me because I felt it would help cement the lesson on littering that I had used at the campfire. He was suddenly very unhappy with me. I had noticed that he didn’t really help cleaning up camp either so felt justified in asking him to carry one plastic bag of trash to the Guard Shack while I carried two others. He was sure I was unjustly picking on him and I probably was but didn’t feel at the time that I was. He did do it but was real angry at me the whole time.

We later left camp and hiked the two miles over to the meadow at the base of the pass. There was a lightening storm approaching and I could hear the thunder getting closer so I spaced the boys in groups of three down the meadow about 100 yards apart so that if lightning did hit in the valley by us we would be far enough apart that less people would be hurt. I figured if any were going to attract any lightning I didn’t want the whole group to get hit.

I spent a rather sleepless night since it was on the ground and not in the hammock that I had used the other nights. The storm passed by and several strikes did hit the cliffs along the pass but we were safe through the entire storm. I arose early the next morning and there was a large rock near where we had slept. I sat on the top of the rock for nearly an hour before I finally yelled that it was time to awake and get out of bed. I didn’t know until later that morning as we were listening to a short wave radio at the top of the pass that at the precise time that I yelled there was an earthquake near Price. I have always counted the earthquake as a result of how loud I yelled but of course everyone never believes that part.

We ate breakfast and then started up the trail. I decided to have Jeffery go first to try and teach patience to the older scouts who I made stay behind the two of us. I  told Jeff to go first because he had been on the trail the day before and knew the way. Well the trail was a lot harder the second time due to his having to carry his backpack this time. We went rather slowly due to that fact and Jeff kept getting madder and madder at me and the older boys kept getting madder and madder as well. However we finally made it to the top of the pass and Jeff quickly removed his pack and went off to cool off his temper. I tried to watch where he was but without being seen and he proved to be too sly and soon disappeared. When I found him missing I looked all over the ridge in the places where we had been the day before. No one even seemed to know where he had gone either. After about 15 minutes looking for him I finally decided to try to go back down the trail since one of the boys thought that he had passed him by as he came up. I started down and was only a few feet from the top when here came Jeff and Billy Ross the other youngest member of the troop. Jeff was carrying Billy’s pack because he was too tired to carry it the rest of the way.  We had a great time taking pictures of the group and then started down off the pass toward Milk Lake. Jeff didn’t have any further problems and Aaron seemed to just avoid me as he hung out with the older boys, the ones who only a couple months earlier had given him so much grief at the camp in Wardsworth canyon. 

 We made it to Milk Lake and set up camp by around noon leaving plenty of time for the boys to go fishing. Richard, my assistant wanted to go to the top of King’s Peak so I finally let him go off by himself to find the highest point in Utah. The boys and Brother Arbon, my other assistant, continued to play and fish. We had our supper and at 10 pm had gotten ready to go to bed since we had a 10 mile hike again the next day. Richard still hadn’t returned and several of the older boys wanted to go find him. I simply told them ”NO, since it would be easier to find one person the next day rather than three or four”. Richard came into camp around 1 AM Friday morning and told me he was back and I slept much better the remainder of the night. He had only made it to the base of the mountain before dark and then figured the fastest way back to camp would be to follow the base of the hill. His flashlight went dead and he was forced to hike a mile or so in total darkness since the moon was not shining at all. He even stepped on a scout from another troop who had laid his bed across the trail. The was enough lighter than everything else to give him a path to follow.

 The next morning I was anxious to get the boys hiking as we had 14 miles of 17 miles to go that day to a place 3 miles from the trail head where we would meet Arbon’s on Saturday. I went over the map with all of the troop and showed them where I figured that we could stop near the river where a bridge crossed over and where it looked like there was a flat spot to set camp. As we cleaned up camp we found a fiberglass tent pole that no one claimed and would need to be carried out to the trash. It ended up that it stayed in the mountains and is spread across a mile or more as little pieces laying somewhere in the trees. I should have just left it there but I asked Aaron if I could simply tie it to the outside of his pack since he was near me and had his pack on his back as the others were not at that point yet. He would have rather I had asked him to carry a rattle snake as it seemed to me that having that pole on his pack would cause him great grief and pain. (It was a quarter inch in diameter and maybe 18 inches long.) Well he finally let me put it on and we all got our packs loaded onto our backs and started down the trail. Brother Baird was in front and I and Brother Arbon at the end of the group.  As we were hiking that first couple of miles I didn’t see Aaron hitting the pole against the tree trunks and breaking it into short slivery pieces but Brother Arbon did and silently picked each of them up. At about 2 miles into the hike we stopped for a rest and Brother Arbon showed me the handful of pieces. I then put them into a bag and we put them into Aaron’s pack. On the next part of the hike I noticed him flinging things out into the trees but was unable to find any of them. He successfully threw all of them into the woods. So at about three miles into the hike we talked about the ramifications to this beautiful area of such actions but I knew we would never be able to find them so after a short rest we started down the trail again or at least prepared to go but Aaron just sat on a log and refused to go. I sent the rest of the troop ahead minus Jeff and Brother Arbon. I tried to talk Aaron into going and he just said he was staying there. I reminded him we still had 10 or 11 miles that day and three the next and that I was responsible for him and wouldn’t leave him behind. After 5 to 8 minutes passed I finally grabbed him by the backpack, as he did have it on, and stood him up and told him to start walking, so he did back and forth across the trail not down it. Needless to say I was getting pretty hot myself and told him to get going down the trail or I just might loose my temper, so he did taking baby steps by placing his boot right in front of the other boot and so on. I almost did loose it but had no time to react before he broke into a full run down the trail.  I turned to Brother Arbon and said “if you will watch Jeff and bring him along with you I’ll hike faster and catch up with Aaron”. I didn’t know if he would pull another “step off the side of the trail until I passed by” trick like he had a month earlier in Wardsworth Canyon.  Well I then started into a very fast walk as I couldn’t run with my large backpack. Jeff decided there would be no leaving him behind and he would often break into a run to stay up with me. We passed every boy and Brother Baird. my other leader. except 5 of them by the time we reached the area I had pointed out that morning that we would be staying. One of my older scouts, Anthony Perry was waiting there for me and I asked where the other four had gone. He said that they didn’t think that this was the right spot and were going to go to the trail head. It was still fairly early in the day and they could easily make those last 3 miles. I told him that we should go up around the bend and see where a good place would be to camp and then I would go on out for the other four. I started up a small incline on the trail and heard Jeff trip and fall behind me. He had really given all he had just to keep up and was now laying on the trial with a bloody nose. So we went around the bend, and I helped him by taking his pack, to a nice level area with lots of shade and grass then set down our packs and went to the bank of the river where I used the water to clean him up. During that time Richard Baird had gotten there and suggested that he go after the other four. I told him that he could but to keep them there until I got there.  We found a tree to put a hammock in and settled Jeff down for a little relaxation. I then headed up the trail without my pack and only carrying some water. I would run 100 yards and then walk 50 so that I could make faster time. Then just before the trail went through some big trees and into the parking area I stopped and caught my breath and then ran full speed out to the area where the boys and Richard were waiting, Aaron included. I yelled to them as I went through te trees to get their backpacks on and head back up the trail. They started pulling stuff out of their packs and throwing them into the truck but I told them it had been their decision to go all the way and thus they would have to take it all back up to the camp for the night. Two of them got really mad at me and started back, Aaron and Nate Taylor. The other two, Shane and Troy along with Richard and I rested up really well and then hiked back to camp. When we got back to camp Ben and Jeff both told me how Nate had told them not to say anything and shut up. He was still pretty mad. Well to this day I remind Nate of the experience every time I get to see him and we both laugh but he still remembers how mad he was and still says “But we didn’t know where to stop!” I remind him that Anthony stopped and he had told me that all of you knew that was the place or I wouldn’t have been mad because they made the decision to keep on hiking. Well it was a great day four of the boys hiked 20 miles when they could have stopped at 14, and two scout masters hiked the same distance only without backpacks for the last 6.  I slept well that night.

The next morning not much was said by Nate or Aaron and we all hiked out to the trail head. We met the Arbon’s and loaded up at which time I found out the four had been successful in ditching some of their belongings the day before.  By then I didn’t care and we made our trip into Heber where we stopped at Grannies Malt Shop and had some really good hamburgers and milk shakes. There is nothing like 5 days in the mountains to make simple food taste really good.

Oct 27, 2011

My first climb up to the Y in Provo.

When I was called to serve in the High Council I had been serving in the 166^th Ward Bishopric at Brigham Young University. As a member of the Bishopric I had made it a goal to attend  every activity to support the youth of the ward. I had almost attained that goal but was not able to do one of the activities in three years because of a scheduling conflict as it was held during the same time that I had been asked to photograph a wedding. SO as a member of the High Council I made it a goal to attend all that I could but not necessarily every one. This goal included attending the activities of the ward to which I was assigned to help in the Stake as well.

Well that goal was really put to the test this last couple of weeks. We had a Stake activity to climb up to the Y on the hill behind BYU campus. Normally I would have loved to be involved in this kind of an activity but due to other circumstances I was actually quite dreading this one. I had been on the second floor at work and was assigned a responsibility that had me going up and down stairs constantly during the day and I was feeling pretty good and could even go up and down the stairs in the buildings where we hold church on BYU camps. However that assignment was changed a couple months prior to this activity and my desk was moved back to the first floor and I was then working at the computer all day with no break going up and down the stairs. My schedule trough the day was to get up at 5:30 A.M. and go to work around 6 A.M. I would then begin working on photographs with occasional breaks to go to the photo room and take pictures then back to my chair to work on those photos until 5 P.M. when I would go home. Around 6 P.M. I would then sit back down at my computer and work on photographs that I  had taken for weddings or families until 10 P.M. when I would retire to the bedroom and go to bed after reading the scriptures and having our night time prayers. This was repeated everyday during the week and then on Saturday I would do yard work all day until after supper or later when I would again work on the photographs on my computer. So I was getting occasional exercise on Saturdays and whenever I was taking pictures at weddings or other places. Needless to say it was not adequate enough to prepare me for a climb up the face of a mountain.

Well I was for sure going to go running or something to get prepared during the last two weeks before the event but it didn’t happen due to rain and the shear magnitude of work that I had to get done for clients. Well I got up early and made sure that I had a breakfast before starting on this activity. I had been assigned to help set up for it so I knew that I had to be there a half hour before any of the youth would be coming. I also made sure my water pack was filled with Gatorade, a drink filled with nutrients and salt that I would be using during the hike.  I got my camera gear all loaded into my pack and headed off to Provo still a bit worried about the outcome and whether I would actually physically be able to make the climb. I ended up being a little early and was the first one to the parking lot from the stake. I could see where a lot of people had already been climbing the trail and were actually at the Y. It of course didn’t look to be very far up there after climbing a good portion of the mountain in the car just getting to the trail head.  I soon saw three youth that I knew from the ward and they said they wanted to climb first and then come down for breakfast. The Stake Relief Society Presidency then arrived followed shortly afterwards by another two members of the High Council and a member of the Stake Presidency. We soon were setting up the food and the youth started to arrive.

Well it wasn’t long after the food arrived and people had eaten that the first ones of the group decided to start up the trail. I went with them knowing that they would be to the top long before I got there but at least I would be there before the last of the group would get here.

I still wasn’t ready to hike but headed off with them and was able to keep up for the first 100 yards then had to stop and get my breath back. I slowly inched up the trail stopping frequently still trying to catch my breath. I then looked back down the trail and noticed two members of the Stake Presidency coming up the trail and decided that I would at least get there before they did. Well at the last section of the trail they were in hearing distance of me and I yelled for them to stop so I would be able to get there first. They didn’t because when they asked, “Do you want us to stop?” I laughing replied “No”. I did make it up there first and even had enough left in me to run the last 20 yards to the top so that I could joke with the ones that I had started with that I ran up the mountain. It was a beautiful sight to be able to see the valley below as the sunlight was slowly getting closer to the mountain. (That was another goal that I had and it was that I be to the “Y” before the sun got there. I mad it.)

I stayed and took a few pictures and then finally headed back down. I went much slower going down since I wanted to take pictures of the scenery that I had not photographed going up due to my heavy breathing and unable to really hold the camera very still. I passed a lot of the Stake as they were coming up and a lot of the stake passed me as they were going back down. When I made it to the bottom I commented to one of the youth that I had walked with the last few yards down the trail that my wife said that I could make it and, well, she was right even though I had my serious doubts before starting that morning. I did make it and it was a tough as I had imagined and that point was really driven home actually while near the top when a young man from the ward I been in with the Bishopric came running up the trail. He ran all the way to the top and then ran back down. In fact it was 7 minutes later according to the time on the photographs when he ran back down past me. He is in really good shape though and even commented that he had ran the Boston Marathon earlier in the year.

SO here is a summary of the lessons that I learned while on this hike. 1.  Dreading it is real and serves as a warning to prepare. 2. Make time to prepare. 3. Do it anyway because you will be glad that you did after it is over. 4. Be sure there is a Doctor with you even though he went ahead of you quite easily and wouldn’t have been able to help until he was on his way back down. 5. Don’t set goals to bet someone who is in better shape than you are.  6. Just laugh it off when someone comes running up the trail and seems to be on a Sunday stroll through the park. And finally #7. The easiest way to climb that mountain when not prepared is to have some one else do it for you.

I was glad that I had done it but when all was said and done I was pretty sore and had muscles aching in every part of my body the rest of that day and the next day. If asked to do it again I would, but would also try to prepare just a little bit better.

Oct 26, 2011

High Council Speaking Assignments


Today (May 17, 2009) I have just completed an assignment typical for High Council members of an LDS Stake. I gave a talk in the 166th ward at BYU. It reminded me that I have a story to tell about this type of event.
When I was a primary age boy (3 to 8 years old) I would often travel with my father as he would go on assignments to the different wards in the Duchesne stake. I went to Fruitland, Tabiona, Hannah, Utahn and Bridgeland. I remember it being long and I got quite bored but each time I was asked if I wanted to go I would do so and quite excitedly. I think I got to know the youth in those areas of the basin and in my high school years had many friends in those areas because of those early experiences attending primary with them. Anyway back then I only remember my father giving possible one talk to the ward he was visiting.
Later in my life when I was called to be on the Mapleton Stake High Council I received assignments nearly every month to talk in one of the 12 wards in our stake. I learned then that there is an art to speaking as a member of the high council. You have to prepare for a 45 minute talk in such a way that it still makes sense if you cut it to a 2 and half minute talk because the other speakers took way to long on their talks. It is not an art but rather it is being alert to the whisperings of the Spirit as to what should be said in the amount of time remaining. I am so very thankful for a Heavenly Father that has helped me every time in not only preparing the talks but in giving them as well. I have felt his spirit many times as I have spoken n his behalf as a member of the high council.

Oct 25, 2011

Bike meets fire hydrant and looses

I have had some wonderful experiences on my bike through the years. I rode it often from the farm to edge of town to look out over Duchesne from on Blue Bench where we lived. I even rode it to summer school several years and even finally was able to ride it all the way to the top of the hill as I would ride home even though most of the summer I had to walk it part way. I rode on it with Stan and Leesa on their bikes in the darkest of nights and on one for 100 miles for a scout activity two years in a row. I also took it with me to college and rode it up to the Snow College “S” on the mountain near Ephraim. I spent several months on one in the mission field in Texas and even rode out on it in after an Ice Storm when were were barely able to maintain balance as we rode the very ridge of the road, the only place where there was no ice. We even had a struggle getting back on since it was so hard to stay standing let alone riding when you did get on the thin layer of ice.

I often have wondered why I ever spent so much time on my bike though considering the fact that early on in my years of riding I had an experience that should have curbed any desire to ride again.

I was at Duchesne High School and had ridden my bike there from home that day to go to summer school as I recall. I had spent some time with my mother in the library and then decide to go to where dad worked and I guess get a ride home with him that day for some reason. Well I left the school and crossed the street and wasn’t looking where I was going very well because all of a sudden this big red fire hydrant decided to step over in front of me and I couldn’t dodge it in time. (No it didn’t move but the story is a lot more fun since you were trying to visualize in your head a fire hydrant getting up out of the ground and moving at all in the first place.) Well you can about imagine my horror as I flew over the top of the handle bars and past that red fire hydrant that was standing there laughing at me while taking the front tire of my bike and with the front part of the bars bending it to where I would not be able to steer it at all any more that day. I was also quite embarrassed as well since that hydrant was right next to main street and people that I most likely knew had to all be driving past at that very moment.

Well I picked myself up and examined the scrapes on my body then picked up the bike and tried to ride it again. (That was when I discovered that the hydrant had bent it up so badly.) I ended up having to push it the next two blocks (that seemed like miles) until I got to the school garage where dad worked and could, because I had to, get ride home a couple hours later. Yep I am still a firm believer that fire hydrants do have an attitude and maybe it is because of all those dogs that they have to put up with the rest of the time.

Oct 24, 2011

2nd Youth Conference @ BYU

My growing up years were filled with numerous spiritual experiences and opportunities for leadership. As a young member of the Priesthood I had opportunities to go to Stake Youth Conferences. My first when I was 14 that was held outside of the Uintah Basin was a Region Youth Conference held at BYU. I remember coming to it only a little and the events still do not come to mind easily but when I was a Priest 2 years later and we repeated the Region Youth Conference it stayed with me a lot more.
That year I was asked to participate on the Region Youth Council and to help plan the events that would take place while we were here at BYU. I remember going to Roosevelt for the planning meeting as it was the center of the region which included all of the Uintah Basin Stakes of the LDS Church. I had 4 or 5 other members of our Stake Council that would go with me and we were responsible for planning certain parts of the event.
There were basically just a few major highlights that I wish to tell here.
1st was the fact that Marie got to be part of the group attending the conference from our ward and of course I quite liked her company at that time. (I must admit that I probably didn’t like it as well as I do now but after all of these years together there are some very obvious reasons as to why.) Anyway it was fun for me to be able to plan events that I knew we were going to get to do together while at conference. I planned the classes that I would be over and made it so that we woud be able to go to them together.
Then there was the responsibilities at the conference to ensure the other youth were getting where they needed to go and I enlisted her help to be with me as we would sign up participants and then later direct traffic to the events. There was also a the evening events like the firesides and dances where I would be able to plan being with her as well.
The one event that sticks out though with the most vivid of memories was the talent show we had for one of the firesides. Our stake was asked to come up with I think a couple of numbers and one of them involved Marie and I. A young man form our ward named Kevin Wilkinson was a pretty good guitar player so we asked him to come up with a number. He agreed to do it but only if some of the rest of us would help. (It still sticks in my mind that Rhonda was asked to participate as well to who he later also got married and still is with her today living in St George, Utah.) What made this most memorable however was his choice of a song to sing. I had to get it approved by the council and they did approve it but I still don’t know why. Anyway it was a song titled “Oh Ruby, Don’t take your love to town.” Now if you know the words you would understand my reservations because it is all about a woman married to a veteran of a war that was handicapped and because she lacked the love she thought she needed she would often leave at night and go out to find it with someone else. Well the words were not the most uplifting but the music was pretty and it was fun to sing yet to this day I still remember the fear I felt about singing it at youth conference. The number went over OK as far as I can remember but I still can’t really feel good about having sung it. It has made me much more aware however as life has continued for me as to the influence that music can have on the mind and I am often moved to tears when singing ones like “How Great Thou Art” (which wasn’t in the LDS Hymn book by the way at that point in history), or “Because I Have Been Given Much”, or “I Believe in Christ” (also a new addition since that time in the church hymns).
It was a good experience though and I often reflect as to why I was so lucky as to be a part of that planning committee because what I took away from that conference was much more significant for me than the first one due to the fact that I had been asked to help plan for it and direct it while at the conference.

Oct 23, 2011

100-10 Bike Trips

During the first few years after having been to Woodbadge I became quite involved in Varsity Scouting so that I could fill my ticket from Woodbadge and accomplish my goals. I started out by becoming involved in the Varsity Committee for the Hobble Creek District where we lived. I was involved in training courses and activities with the boys in my team and enjoyed the experience. It was only a few short months though after becoming the Varsity Coach in my ward that our ward was divided and much to my surprise I ended up with my family in a whole new ward the First Ward. I was worried as things began to develop because I knew the Varity coach real well and didn’t want to be the coach in his stead. Well I was worried for nothing because the Bishop (B Ray Anderson) and 1st Counselor (Wynn Everett) came to see me and I was soon called as the Scoutmaster. I loved the job as Scoutmaster also but never could quite get the orange of varsity scouting out of my blood. I became involved however in more District planning and a few years later had the opportunity to plan an event that would cross all the scouting lines and be something any of the boys 11 to 18 could do. It was a hundred mile bike ride in less than 10 hours and we called it the 100-10. A friend from work and I were on the committee and decided that if we were going to host it we had better ride in it. So since we worked together at Signetics we decided to ride our bikes to work in preparation for the event. I would leave home around 10 pm in the pitch blackness of the night with only my small headlight letting me know what was on the road ahead of me. We got to where we quite enjoyed the ride and did it for nearly two months solid prior to the June event. We rode on cold nights and we rode several times in the spring rains that were also quite cold. The interesting part of the ride was that I could truly say to the boys that I rode uphill both ways to work and home every day. There is a joke now days about how grandparent s say they walked to school uphill both ways in 5 feet of snow and the kids love to use that on us whenever we might say “In my day!” Anyway it was true because I would ride down off the hill into Springville where I would stop by Steve’ Claybrook’s home and start the ride on into work with him. There was Ironton hill that I found to be quite steep that we would ride up and over and down both ways and then there was the hill that took us back up to Signetics as we got to Orem. On the way home it was reversed and we would ride down out of Orem only to face the ride over Ironton and the ride back up onto the bench into Mapleton.
It was good exercise and I got to where I could ride it quite easily so that when the day of the 100-10 came I was able to easily make the ride in just under 9 hours. That 100 miles was a long way though and I gained a great respect for it. The event was a lot of fun and as I remember Ben, Jeff and Hayden all rode on it with me. We often talked about it but after the ride Steve and I more or less stopped riding into work. The year quickly passed and it soon seemed time was here again to plan the next ride for our district 100-10 mile bike ride. It had been such an easy ride the year before that Steve and I were not nearly as diligent in our preparations this time. We rode a few times into work since we were still on the graveyard shift together but not nearly as well as we had the year before. It seem to be a lot wetter year also and riding in the rain really wasn’t as much fun. Again though the ride came and I joined in it with my scouts. Orin Bawden was my assistant scoutmaster and so since he was a little heavier fellow he drove a van to bring up the last rider and give assistance as needed. I started off on the ride thinking that I would stay with the last boy but only 10 miles into the trip I knew I would never be able to finish at that rate so I talked with Orin and decided to let him do his job and I would ride on ahead to be with my sons. Well it was around the 64th or 65th mile when I finally started to catch up with them. I had ridden hard for the last 50 miles and as I caught up with them about 5 miles before our designated lunch stopping place where we would eat lunch and rest for 20 minutes or so I hit the wall. I nearly felt like I was going to die as I struggled to keep on my bike and peddle fast enough to stay with the boys who seemed to be quite relaxed and having fun going SLOW or so they told me. Anyway they raced on ahead and started their lunches as I slowly made my way behind them. I finally got to the resting area and sat down under a tree and slowly ate my lunch. The boys however were ready to go cause they wanted a record time and didn’t really care if I rode with them. Miracles do happen though and by the time my food started to hit my stomach and they were getting ready to go I got my second wind and was able to stay up with them fairly well for the remaining miles. We finished the ride in just under 7.5 hours. L learned my lesson though that day and had I been involved the following year there would have been some more riding to work regularly.