YET ANOTHER VIDEO FROM GERMANY

I am in the mission memory mode at the moment as we send out our reunion invitations. And as things are a little quiet on the home front, I have been thinking back.

Things are not totally on the quiet side as Mom is in high gear with her 'Emergency Preparedness" assignment in the Relief Society and is attending meetings and demonstrations everywhere almost every night. I am even eating alfalfa sprouts grown in our refrigerator. I feel so healthy. Mom bought enough alfalfa seeds to rejuvenate a hayfield! More about this later.

I am posting a video of two of our Sister Missionaries, then Erin Swenson and Kristin Green. I let both bring their violins to the mission field and stationed them as a pair down in Vienna. Erin was a concert violinist and brought her valuable Viennese violin from the 1800's. I invited them both one day to come to this little Restaurant in the Grinzing area of Vienna, at Sandgasse 6. There was a violinist there who constantly serenaded us when we visited after meetings. Erin and Kristin came in dressed in their blazers and long skirts with violins strapped to their backs. That was an unforgettable sight.

The local violinist, who had been first violinist in a Serbian symphony checked out Erin's violin and pronounced it manufactured in Hungary when Hungary was part of the Austrian- Hungarian Empire. He said it was OK to play there.

So under a canopy of grape leaves on a beautiful summer evening in Vienna, they started playing hymns together and the whole place went totally silent as all were touched.

Here is a sample of Erin and Kristin performing in our Mission home. They were great in every way.

Love, Dad

MORE MISSIONARY VIDEOS

Dear Family,

I have been thinking back on our experience in Germany and Austria with about 450 missionaries as we approach spring, General Conference and our own missionary reunion. I am constantly reminded what a great group of young men and women we had. It has been wonderful to watch their progress since returning home.

There is another video I would like to share. It is in English. I took this after a zone conference in Nuernberg in the Keslerplatz chapel. I have not learned how to edit these clips and it starts off shaky as I try to figure out how to use the movie function of a digital camera.

We have here Elders Miller, Dzierzon, Christensen and Jackson singing acapella, a favorite hymn, 'Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy'.

Elder Dzierzon, who was always the prime mover, could get great sound out of ordinarily shy and reticent young men. This one is a classic and I hope you enjoy it as well as I always will

Love Dad

MISSIONARY VIDEOS

Yesterday, a former sister missionary, Beth W.. came over and asked to see some videos I made during our mission zone conferences and leaders conferences. I watched a few again and it brought a certain deep feeling as I watched these great missionaries sing. We had talented missionaries who were concert pianists, violinists and some with trained voices. We tried to use their talents. I will add one on this blog and maybe some others later. Dario Dzierzon, from Sachsen, was the primary mover with this musical effort. These are two groups he organized. I took these with a Leica Digilux camera five years ago. This was a digital camera with a movie option and the recordings were not so bad. My heart warms every time I play these clips. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do Love, Dad

This was an octet from the Missionaries in Vienna led by Dario Dzierzon singing a number from Mendelssohn's Oratorio, Elijah.

SLOW WEEK ON SHERWOOD DRIVE

It was a slow week on Sherwood Drive. We are getting into our schedule and there have been no large family parties for a week. I am back in the Missionary Department on Mondays and we are both in the Temple on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The stint in the missionary department in interesting but not as busy as ones surgical practice in any way. But when the In Field Representatives and Mission Presidents need you, they really do need some urgent medical consultation. We get involved in whether missionaries should come home for treatment or surgery and if urgent, they need a solid opinion. Then there is the question of whether a missionary can return to the field and whether they can return to their former mission or need to stay close by depending on the problem. With 53,000 missionaries in the field, it is amazing that we are not busy every second. Monday mornings are busier than Monday afternoons. It is amazing how well this system works.

I have been feeling better so the time in the Temple is rich and wonderful. We meet people whom we have known everywhere. I was in the locker room and someone yelled out, "Roy Wirthlin!" "Yes that is me!" I did not recognize him at first but it was Keith Kneighton from the Weston Ward who was my music director when I was Bishop . (By the way, the current Bishop of the Weston Ward is Danny Ainge, manager of the Celtics!) I see people from that ward almost every time. It is wonderful to work in the Baptistry and watch the large groups of youth coming in for their assignments. It is simply great.

Mom is on the phone right now writing a talk for Suz who is down in Mexico City and has to give a talk in her church today.

We went to a Utah Jazz basketball game last night with Karen H. who drove through the gate and parked where the players park and we went up to the box on an elevator. That is the way to go. Larry Miller, the owner of the Jazz basketball team had passed away a few days ago and there was a ceremony honoring him. He was a very successful business man and a mover and shaker in the community. He gave a couple of million for the Joseph Smith Papers Project among the many other things he contributed. He died after both legs were amputated.

It was a fun time in the box. The food is always good and there is a waitress who looks after everyone. Mom chats the entire time with her friends. The Sunderledges from Bloomfield Hills were there and asked all about the family; other friends showed up in the box and we did watch the game which the Jazz won. They also beat the Celtics the other night.

March will be interesting. Besides all the birthdays, Mom and I will travel back to Virginia to visit the Manwarings. He was the president of the Frankfurt mission when we were in Munich. We will visit them and their pheasant hunting preserve in Virginia. It will be nice to get out again. We will also do our fireside a couple of times. We will also host a missionary fireside for out Missionary group that has been meeting for 50 years. Eldred G. Smith (who is 102) will talke about Joseph amd Hyrum Smith and show some of their artifacts that have been in the family. I love his talk. I believe I can invite family memgers who might want to hear this.

Well that is about it for now.. a slow week on Sherwood Drive.

Love, Dad

MOM'S VALENTINE PARTY

Dear Family,

Valentine's Day is such a tradition in our family. Mostly when the daughters all started to get bigger, we had a party each year. Mom would get a little jewelry piece, everyone would get a large Hallmark valentines card and sometimes I would draw cartoons of each daughter. Over almost 50 years, tradition tended to grow, evolve and expand; now it is a full fledged celebration with no stops.

Mom picks a date when all can come and decorations begin two weeks in advance. There are hundreds of hearts everywhere, the dishes are heart shaped.. everything reminds one of valentine. Even my full mount stuffed lion wears a wreath of hearts, There are trips to the various dollar stores to pick up appropriate valentines things for the grandkids; the large dining room table is covered in red with hearts and flowers.. the entire first floor of the house is one gigantic valentines.

Everyone who can come is invited. Rick and Gemina came up from Los Angleles. Here we see the pretty teenage granddaughters, Madelin H., Rachel, Madeline B. and Natalie H. This time 54 came with about 38 grandkids.

There were stations set up around the house where all the kids did a different craft. They made valentine cards, and some decorated heart shaped cookies with icing and toppings. There were Valentine prizes galor that all received and took home in a heart shaped basket.

And of course there is the obligatory feast. "Can't we just get a ham and crackers?" "Noooo, this is the Valentines party!!!!" So everyone brings a dish that they are famous for; special banana creme pie, breads and rolls, special potatoes and heart shaped cupcakes. Then of course there is the meat part. I smoked six racks of ribs. Doug did ribs in a dutch oven but when Rick and I went over to check on the progress, we ended up eating them at Doug's so he brought pulled pork. There was a ten pound roast beef as well.

There was food and little kids all over the place. After all that there is the gathering for a slightly chaotic Family Night. Mike organized a little Valenties play. Then I had each husband mention why his wife was special. Rick had stepped out so Gemina called him on her Blackberry, put the phone on speaker so we could all hear what Rick had to say. At the very end, I had the wives do the same.

I woke up with this jingle in my mind that morning and jotted a few simple lines for Mom since we seem to be beyond the jewelry stage:


Valentine Day 2009

What can I say
On this Valentines Day
That has not been said before
So many days, so many years
And now so much more

You are a gift from Heaven sent
Have filled our lives with joy, content
For this great blessing I quietly pray
And thank my Maker for that special day
When we first met and I was swept away

May I be worthy evermore
Of your great love and special way
To bless the lives of all each day
This is what I now would say
On this most memorable Valentines Day

Love, Dad

WINTER IN ST. GEORGE

We spent the weekend in St. George Utah. Rebeca and Paul. Cathy and Pete with their two little kids were there as well. Becca and Paul have a neat home close to Interstate 15 in Washington, UT, on the outskirts of St. George. It was 62 degrees and their pool was 95 degrees. Here is Cathy and little Phillip, Becca and little Austin Le Roy. They have a pool and a small putting green in the backyard. This large development surrounds a golf course and there is a chapel with two wards in this housing development. Here is shot of their backyard. The snow is in the mountain tops where it belongs.

It is interesting to drive through southern Utah, so rich in Mormon Pioneer history. It is about five hours from our house. We met Becca and Paulo in Nephi and Paul drove our car and made very good time. We stayed in Paul's father's condo a mile away from their home.

St George has changed in the last 50 years since I was down there. There are housing developments everywhere as many have discovered this warm paradise in the desert. It is not as warm as Phoenix AZ so there are no grapefruit or lemon trees in the back yard but there are palm trees. There are golf courses and even a large reservoir for boating. Many retire down here to enjoy the warm and mild winters. It was 20 degrees in Salt Lake when we left.

I do not play golf so we enjoyed the time visiting with these two families and playing with the grand kids. The gals did a garage sale safari as we baby sat. There is a great Hamburger place in St. George called In and Out Hamburger. This is a California group who insist on using absolutely fresh ingredients and they were the best.

We just "hung out" (what the daughters call "blarbing" which is in no dictionary) and had the best time. We went to church in one of the wards in that development. Every ward has a different flavor and it was true here. The chapel and amusement hall were packed. In our Priesthood class, there was a discussion about volunteers for the welfare farm. They have a large regional welfare farm there. It is a huge orchard with 5000 apricot and peach trees that has a huge production of peaches and apricots for the local cannery and Bishop's Storehouse. I guess they were going to prune the trees and needed tractor drivers.

It was a great and relaxing time and it could be habit forming.

Well it is back to work. Am sitting here in the Missionary Department answering the medical hot line. Temple reopens tomorrow and that will be great.

The next big family event will be Mom's Valentine Party this Saturday.

Alles gute, Oma und Opa