Jan 3, 2012

Our wedding was responsible for another wedding.

While attending the graveside part of the funeral on Dec 29, 2011 for my Aunt Carma Hansen Allen (mother’s younger sister) I was surprised by a story that of my cousin’s husband told me which I had never heard before.

Dave Thomas was dating my cousin Jeannine Allen. She was about my age and one of the cousin to whom I had the closest relationship. Just before my marriage Dave had decided to date some other girls and Jeannine told her mother she wanted to call him on the phone but in those days it was not proper for the girl to take the lead on dating and courtship type things. She was sure that he didn’t like her anymore. Her mother told her that if he loved her he would call. Well shortly after that while attending our wedding Aunt Carma saw Dave and Jeanine kneeling across the alter while Marie and I were actually kneeling there during the sealing ceremony. It took her quite by surprise so when she got home she told Jeanine that it was OK for her to call Dave. That then took Jeannine by surprise and she had to have her mother explain why the change of heart. After her mother told her what she had seen she called Dave and from what he told me they went on a date the following Sunday during which he kissed her for the first of many times to come.

After telling me the story he told me and that is why your marriage was responsible for Jeanine and I also getting married.  He told me thank you several times after that until he had to go to be one of the pallbearers for Aunt Carma.

It is interesting to note that Dave was one of the scouters that we photographed just a few years ago when he was awarded the Silver Beaver award which my Grandfather Hansen and I had also been awarded before. He was the second or maybe third in Grandpa’s posterity to receive that award . I was the first of the grandchildren to receive it. That award has even made Dave and I closer since that time even though we have always been good friends since the day of his marriage to Jeannine.

Jan 2, 2012

The day I hit the wall on my bike during the 100-10

Scouting, as you may already know, has been a major part of my life. From the time I spent in Scouting as a youth with Brother Ray Hansen and Brothers Phil Barney and Trooper Hooper (both of the last two were Utah State Highway Patrolmen), to the time I now spend as an Eagle Scout Councilor. I have had many years of good experiences of which many of them will be told through out this book of stories.

The ones I will relate today go together since they are just two years of the participation in the same event.

After I had attended WoodBadge in 1986 I returned to me district to work as part of the Varsity Roundtable committee. A short three months later the other two members of the committee moved and I became the Chairman and recruited 7 other men in the district to help me. We wanted to find a high adventure activity that the Varsity members of the district could participate in that would also spark interest in a merit badge that they could earn as part of the participation in the event. It was decided that the cycling merit badge would be fun to earn and that an event where we would ride 100 miles in 10 hours would also be a lot of fun for them. So we planned the 100-10 Bike trip which we wanted to have as an annual event. I participated in it for the first two years and then due to employment and other changes was not able to participate in it again.

The first year was quite memorable because I trained for it by riding to and from Signetics in Orem each night and morning. Steve Claybrook and I were both on the committee and we both worked at Signetics so in March we started to ride to work together on our bikes to and from work. It almost killed me the first night since I knew it was cold outside to I wore a lot of protection and thus after the 14 mile ride my bodies core temperature had risen pretty high since it couldn’t get rid of the heat through all of that clothing. My face turned beet red and it took quite a while to cool down once I was at work. We were faithful though and rode every night that the weather would allow until the event in June. That year though as Steve and two of his sons rode to the starting point on the north end of Springville one of his sons was hit by a truck and so Steve ended up at the hospital with him instead. They rode together the next year however. My assistant was Orin Bawden in the Scout troop in our ward where I now served as the Scoutmaster. We had planned the event so that the younger scouts could also participate and thus we would have a lot more youth able to be a part of it in the district. He rode along in his van to help any who might struggle or who might need to have repairs made to the bike. He ended up picking up one young mad about 50 miles into the trip who just flat out couldn’t go another mile. I rode with the rest of the troop and of course helped mark the path around Utah lake that ended up being exactly 100 miles by the time we got back to Springville. That year was fairly uneventful after the wreck before it started. I remember that Ben and Jeff and I rode it in about 9.5 hours. It was a lot of fun and turned out to be a great idea.

The second year however became a nightmare for me almost. Steve and I again trained by riding to work but not nearly as faithfully as we had the year before. It had been an almost relaxing ride for me and actually for Steve as well as he came later and did it just for the experience of it after he had taken his son to the hospital and then brought him home again after they found he was OK.

 I again rode with my troop but not right with them this time. Now that Ben and Jeff had been on it once they wanted to see how fast they could do it and set a goal to make it in less than 6 hours. They were both robust young men in their mid to late teens and thus felt that was a good challenge. Well I didn’t try to stop them and in fact choose to ride with the last young man in our troop in stead to be able to give encouragement and help along the way. However inside of me is that competitive spirit that just doesn’t give up and after about tem moles into the ride somewhere in Provo I just could not take riding so slow so again I turned the job over to Orin since he had been right there behind us the whole time anyway and decided to catch up with my sons besides they couldn’t be very far ahead of me and I should be able to catch up in a couple of miles. I rode like the wind as fast as I could and yet for the next 45 miles I didn’t catch up because well the wind was going a lot slower by then. But after having passed up a lot of scouts and finding that at each checkpoint that they were actually getting less and less far ahead of me I kept pushing my body to go as fast as it could and finally 55 to 60  miles into the trip I spotted them ahead of me. I caught up more or less and Jeff seemed to take pity on me and dropped back a little just to ride near me.  Then just a few miles before the spot where we would stop for lunch I hit the wall. It was just five more miles to get to Eureka and I could stop but my body said to stop now. Well I didn’t because I knew in part what it felt like to hit the wall in long distant running that I had done in High School so I knew I could continue but it still was pretty hard to peddle just one more time around to keep the bike going. I rode that way for a mile or so and then finally got back to where I was able to make it on into the resting place and get under some trees to cool off and get some food into me. After about 20 minutes we started again even though I wanted to wait another ten or so I knew that I couldn’t hold Ben and Jeff and the others back any longer. The rest of the trip though was great and I did complete it in about 6.5 hours. Ben got there a lot sooner than I but I still made it. I even took time to stop and look at the blow snake that was crossing the road on the backside of West Mountain.

Those were two good years and two memorable bike rides along with the other 10 t0 15 mile rides we took as a troop to Salem in preparation for it and I shall never forget them especially that spot on the backside of Utah lake where I literally hit the wall physically and had to work so very hard to continue the journey.

Jan. 1, 2012

A Memorable High Council Assignment

Not long before I was released from the High Council of the Mapleton Utah Stake in June of 2003 we had the opportunity for our Stake Conference visiting General Authority to be Pres Packer. We were all excited for the opportunity and even wondered if Pres Harper would be released as Stake President during this visit. As it turned out though Pres Packer told us that it was his responsibility to assign the General Authorities to Stake Conferences throughout the church and had decided he wanted one close to home this time so decided to assign himself to our Stake.  We started making preparations for his visit and received our assignments. I was assigned along with most of the other brethren to be on security during the two days of the conference. I well remember the first day when he arrived and his two security guards were with him as they came from the cars to the building and ushered Pres Packer quickly into the Stake Presidents office where he then met with the Stake Presidency.

Meanwhile we were then taken into the chapel with the two security guards where we were to receive our instructions for the following two days. It was interesting to me because we started with a word of prayer and I had not thought about the fact that it is always helpful and necessary to include the Lord in our instructions especially concerning the safety of one of his senior servants in the gospel. We completed the prayer and introductions were made and then the senior security guard said to us. “I noticed that during the prayer you all closed your eyes. That is good except that during the remainder of the conference you will keep them open and watch the audience.” Generally people intending to do harm will not close their eyes but feel safer in taking action because no one else is looking and none of us had ever even considered that we would need to watch the audience.  I remember being a counselor to a Bishop once who would watch the audience for people who were not closing their eyes during prayers and he commented to me that it was interesting because most of the time when they would make eye contact with him they would quickly close their eyes but every now and then there would be some who would simply stare back in defiance. Anyway we were quickly taught the importance of keeping our eyes open and not just open but searching the audience for any movement or things that might suggest danger to Pres. Packer. We were given the names of several individuals in the Stake for whom we were specifically assigned to watch and also given assignments to patrol the halls and exterior of the building at times as well.

I remember the following two days and the Apostolic blessing that Pres. Packer left with us that day but I mostly remember watching one individual particularly because I had once been assigned as his parents home teacher when he was going through a struggle to get the apostles to listen to what he felt the Lord was doing wrong with the church. He was on the list because of his persistence in going to the church office buildings and seeking audience in various ways with the Prophet and other general authorities.  Well he was there and he didn’t stay in one seat during the conference so it became somewhat of a challenge to know where he was. He was however on his best behavior that day and there were no instances that needed correction or action. I close my eyes again now during prayers but will not forget what is required of those who are assigned to the safety of the Lord’s anointed. 

Dec. 31, 2011

Going into the cellar

There were certain chores that I had as a boy that left lasting scars on my memory. They really were not that bad as I look back on them now but I have had to spend years of effort trying to overcome some of those deep impressions that were made doing those chores. They usually seemed to involve Black Widow spiders as well and I to this day am very respectful and scared of that particular spider. The chore here that I am referring to however is the ones when I was told to go into the cellar and either get potatoes or fruit or other times when I went into it to clean it out for the following winters storage. It was built such that you had to pull open a large door that led to the stairs. It was usually attached to a lot of spider webs since it was dark and dry and a great place for spiders. Then you went down four or five stairs that were not really very sturdy to another door. It was also covered with webs and as you would push it open it led into the darken interior where you had to feel through more webs for the string that you would pull to turn on the light. Well you would think that at this point fears could be rested of having a large spider climb down onto your back but the light would only illuminate the rest of the webs that would have been spun from shelf to shelf. I would have to then tear them down to reach in for apples on the shelf or into the bin for the potatoes. Well I probably only found a few widowed (by choice) spiders in the many years of going into the cellar where the floor were dirt and the side walls lined with cedar slabs to keep the dirt from caving into the interior. But those few spiders were enough to instill a lasting dislike for them.  OK it probably wasn’t all that bad of an experience and I probably had more death defying experiences with skunks but I will always remember that old dirt cellar and the smell of fresh fruit and vegetables in the fall and the rotten unused apples and vegetables in the spring. (Yes I had to clean them out each year.)

Another version:

Going into the cellar

I seem to be on a subject while writing today’s stories. I have written about cleaning the fruit room and preparing bottles for canning. I have mentioned my dislike for Black Widow spiders as well and this story is not much different. Dark places like the well, bottles in the grainery and the cellar just seem to attract those darn spiders. So without any further mention of them I will just say they were in the cellar as well.  I also had yearly duties of cleaning the going to the cellar for potatoes and fruit during the winter to get them for mom to cook with at supper time. I also got to clean out the rotten potatoes and carrots and fruit the next spring or fall before storing more fruit in there the next season. I learned to despise the smell of rotten potatoes and learned it was a had a very distinct smell. The apples were not bed since they seemed to just dry into tiny little balls of no significant mess except the few that were still only half dried when I was removing the rest. The floor of the cellar was just dirt and the walls were made of cedar planks and of course spider webs. It was always a fun experience to open the top door and go down the steps to open the second door where I would then have to clear all of the webs out of the road so I could find the pull string to turn on the light. Other than that fun part it was always the right temperature in there regardless of the season outside. I did like that part.

Dec. 30, 2011

Scouting Positions Held
Guide Patrol Leader	1970-71
Snow College Pow Wow Staff and Instructor	1975
Cubmaster	1981-84
Varsity Scout  Coach	1987-88
Scoutmaster	1988-1993
Timberline Quartermaster	1990
Timberline Asst Scoutmaster	1991-1992
Council Junior Leader Training Staff	1994-2005
Timberline SM/Course Director	1993-1994
Timberline Asst Scoutmaster	1995-1996
Timberline SM/Course Director	1997-1998
WoodBadge Coach Counselor	1999
Timberline Council Staff /Advisor	1999
Woodbadge Senior Patrol Leader	2000
Timberline Council Staff /Advisor	2000
WoodBadge Course Scribe	2001
Timberline Council Staff /Advisor	2001
Timberline SM	2002-2003
Junior Leader Training Area Staff	1999-2003
Timberline Course Director	2004-2005
WoodBadge Coach Counselor	1999
Woodbadge Senior Patrol Leader	2000
WoodBadge Course Scribe	2001
UNPC Council Silver Beaver Photographer	1999-present
District Training Staff Scoutmaster	May-91
Hobble Creek District Eagle Scout Counselor	2005-2009
Diamond Fork District Eagle Scout Counselor	2009-present
Silver Beaver photographer	2000-present
Mapleton 14th Ward Scout Committee Chairman	2011

Dec. 29, 2011

Callings in the church.

I have been blessed through the years to almost always have a church calling since I received the priesthood. It started in the deacons quorum and has continued to this day. Below are listed the callings that I have had as well as I can recall.


Deacons Quorum sec, counselor, President. 1965-67
Teachers quorum counselor and President. 1967-69
Region Youth Conference Committee Member 1969
Region Youth Conference Co-Chairman 1970
Priest Quorum Secretary and 1st assistant 1969-71
Priesthood Music Chorister 1970
Blazer Leader 1970-1971
Gospel Doctrine Sunday School Teacher 1971
Missionary 10/1972-10/1974
Trainer in Mission in Garland 12/1972-03/1973
District Leader in Stephenville 4/1973-8/1973
Co Zone Leader in Midland 9/1973 - 3/1974
District Leader in Pampa 4/1974- 7-1974
4th ward newsletter editor 7/1974-10/1974
10/1974 – 6/1975
6/1975 - 1976
Elders Quorum Second Counselor 1976-78
8 Year old Primary Teacher 1979-1980
Cubmaster 4th ward 1981-1984
Bishopric Executive Secretary 4th Ward 1984-1985
Bishopric Second Counselor 4th Ward 1985-1987
Varsity Coach 4th Ward 1987-1988
Scoutmaster 1st Ward 1988-1993
Bishopric Second Counselor 1st Ward 1993-1995
Bishopric First Counselor 1st Ward 1995/1997
Mapleton Stake High Council 2/1997-6/2003
Troop Committee Chairman 6/2003-10/2004
High Priest Group Instructor 10/2003-10/2004
Primary Valiant 10 Teacher 10/2004-2/19/06
New Scout Patrol Scoutmaster 10/2004-2/19/06
BYU 166th Bishopric 1st Counselor 2/19/06-1/11-09
BYU 3rd Stake High Council 1/11/09-6/19/11
July 24 Ward Coordinator for 14th Ward 7/4/11-7/25/11
Ward Scout Committee Chairperson 714/11- present
There have been some instances where I have held multiple callings but the major calling is the one listed.