FIRESIDE IN OREM

I was invited to give a talk in Orem at a Stake High Priest Quorum gathering. This is a yearly meeting where business is carried out, and a speaker is invited.

I talked about Nathan Smith, founder of Dartmouth and Yale Medical Schools and his involvement with Joesph Smith's orthopedic surgery as a child of seven.

Here is the Samuel B. Morse's painting of Nathan Smith that is found at Yale University Medical School.

We drove down to Orem and set up the projection and computer equipment and the members started to file in. They brought their wives and in addition Emily and Mike and some of their kids showed up as well. There must have been 600 file in as the chapel and half the recreation hall filled. I was impressed.

They were a great group with a great spirit. I gave my power point presentation on the details of Joseph's surgery and the unusual fact that the only surgeon performing direct operations on bone in 1813 was none other than Nathan Smith. I could find no other mention of this operation anywhere in the English or German medical literature. It is a great story and the very first one we have about Joseph Smith in his youth. I took Emily's boy, Joseph, who is seven years old as my object lesson.. the same age as Joseph when he was operated in 1813
.

We give this about once or twice a month to various groups in Salt Lake. There are a lot of active Gospel study groups around the city and we get invited. We so enjoy doing this.

Alles Gute, Opa

AL AND PAUL MOVE TO MICHIGAN

Alison and Paul and their six children packed up and moved to Michigan. Al and Paul moved to Utah about the same time we came back from our mission and bought a house around the corner from us. It was so great to have them close. She had two more children there and we watched the family grow.

Al and I had a good time. She got me interested in some of the finer points of cooking and we shopped together, went on trips to "Spoons and Spice" to get all the gadgets. Paul thought there was a kitchen arms race going on. It was just fun.

Then they decided they would move back to Michigan where they both grew up and where Paul joined the church. They sold their house and in the interval lived in our basement apartment for four months and that was great. We shared food and fun. I would take tho boys to Cabala's and we would walk around and see everything, do the laser shooting range and eat a bison brat and check out the aquarium. One time Al asked James, "What did you do at Cabala's?" "We did everything you could do at Cabala's without spending thousands of dollars!"

We went to church with them and occupied the last two rows on the right. It was a ball and the people sitting behind us had a show every Sunday. The little girls would crawl all over my lap and little Henry joined in as well. Here is a picture I sneakingly took with my Blackberry on Al's last visit to our ward. She is sitting next to Becca who came up for the family dinner after. We had Rob there as well and 45 came to Sunday dinner.

It was hard to say goodbye as they lined up next to their 15 passenger van on their way to Michigan. It was almost like history being revisited in reverse. I will miss them very much including all the little kids. They were great to have in our home. I would go to the head of the stairs and call out names and sometimes they answered. Then I went to the head of the stairs and whispered very softly, "I have a licorice treat!" and kids came running up from all the rooms downstairs. They do have good hearing. It has been quiet around here and we miss them so much but they need to pursue their goals in Michigan.

Then I got this picture yesterday. This is now Michigan and here are Al's kids, Peter, William and James, with their cousins, Nicky and football player, Scotty. Scotty plays football for the East Hills JV football team and they are winners.

I was disoriented when I saw the picture; they were just here and now they are there. Life is so full of partings and greetings, I should be used to it by now but when loved ones leave for a bit it still is felt. We now have three families in Michigan.

We wish Paul and Al and the gang all the best in their move to Ann Arbor and even though I am a "Utah Man" I can say, "Go Blue".

Love, Opa

CATHY HAS A BABY GIRL, OUR 68TH GRANDCHILD

Cathy had an early Halloween party and birthday party for Phillip. She wore her pumpkin costume but this year she did not wear a pillow underneath as she was expecting any minute. I hoped she would wait until after our Elk hunt and she did.

I do not know how they are doing deliveries nowadays; Mom just had the babies without a lot of planning for the moment. But now you have to work around the schedule of the Obstetrician and the availabilities of hospital beds for birthing mothers and the Dad's working schedule.

As I understand it, Pete took a week off from his dental practice and on Tuesday, Cathy started to have contractions. These were spaced but she went into the hospital and they put some sort of contraction monitor on her to decide whether she could stay.

Cathy somehow could simulate contractions in between the real contractions and make it show on the monitor. She would put in an extra pseudo contraction between the natural ones and they kept her and the obstetrician said, "OK, we will deliver the baby," Cathy then had a nice little 7 1/2 pound girl, Amelia Rose.

I took a picture with my Blackberry and here is Cathy and little Amelia, their third child and our 68th Grandchild.

Way to go Cathy and Pete, you have a great family

Alles Gute,

Dad

ELK HUNT IN IDAHO

When I was under the weather a couple of months ago, Rob suggested it might be good to get out and go hunting.

When the boys were growing up, I took them hunting and I did several hunts with Rob including a great safari to Africa. He wanted to treat me to a hunt. He suggested an Elk hunt but I was not sure I was up to it. He found an Elk hunt in Idaho that I could manage.

He organized a hunt with the Rocky Mountain Elk Ranch located between Rexburg and Driggs, Idaho.

One of the best parts of an adventure is the planning and preparation. There were several trips to Cabelas, (my tailors) and picked up gadgets and noggets for the hunting trip. Cabelas is packed with many hunters making their won preparations. I picked up a Cow Elk call, the Hootchie Momma. We loaded the ammo, sighted in the rifles, got the ATV repaired, fixed the trailer and we were ready.

Rob flew down from Spokane, we loaded up the gear and drove off with the Ford Pickup pulling the ATV. It was a great drive and we chatted and remembered great times and great hunts. We arrived at the ranch about 6 PM.

The ranch was great with with wide open living room area, large bedrooms with queen size bunk beds. Rob got the top bunk. The owners and operators and our guides, as it turned out, were members of the Church so we had prayers in camp which was unusual.

We looked out the window and saw a few elk far off. There were three bulls and I tried the Hootchie Momma caller once through an open window. They all popped their heads up and even as the rut was over, they were interested.

We started out at daybreak on ATV's and rode through a rough trail in the woods but did not scare up anything or see anyting. It was cold and rainy. The guide found a high spot and scouted the area. He spotted three bulls and cows far off.

We got a little closer, glassed the elk with binoculars and there was one very nice bull. We ranged them at 180 yards. They were starting to go down a steep ravine where it would have been a real chore to bring them out and it was now or never.

Rob did a little stalk and got closer and shot a large cow elk. We processed the game quickly, took them to a butcher who promised to butcher the meat, vacuum pack it and flash freeze if for our departure on Saturday. This was most efficient!

Friday we drove over to the Huntsman Springs development in Driggs, Idaho. Paul has been involved with this huge development for several years. They have built a world class golf course and Rob wanted to try it out. It was fabulous. I rode in the golf cart and Rob played the last nine holes. I learned what a "Mulligan" is. Rob was in Heaven! We met Karen and Jon who showed us the fabulous homes they are building. It is a golfers dream!

The next day we loaded up, picked our frozen elk meat (350 lbs processed meat) and drove home. The horns were mounted on the ATV and we received slobbering congratulations by all the Elk Hunters we met at stops on the way home.

It was a great and memorable trip and I am grateful to Rob for making it possible.

Love, Dad

CHINESE SURGICAL VISIT

Dr. Doug has been working with Chinese surgeons in Beijing, China for several years. This was a tradition started by Elder Nelson when he was doing cardiac surgery. Dr. Doty continued the cardiac work and Doug started them on the peripheral vascular work in stroke prevention.

Doug has been training surgeons to do carotid endarterectomies which is a clean out of cholesterol plaques in the carotid artery bifurcation, the carotid artery of course brings blood to the brain. When that artery narrows or gets filled up with friable material, some of this can go up into the brain and cause a stroke. When diagnosed and treated surgically properly, it will prevent stroke. They have a significant stroke problem in China. The surgeons had complications with the surgery at the beginning but Doug has gone over there each year and showed them how to do the operation safely, made sure they had the proper instruments and proper diagnostic equipment.

The picture shows a group of these surgeons who came for a visit. To the right of Mom is Dr. Wang who came over to work in the cardiac research lab at the LDS Hospital and is now a US citizen. Behind Mom is Dr. Doug and on his left is Dr. Jang. He has done 700 carotid endarterectomies since they began the program. Doug goes over there and operated with him.

Dr. Jang was very kind to us during our visit to Beijing last year.

These are a great group of men and I liked them. All the Chinese I have met are very respectful of older people and their experience. They make sure the oldest gets the best seat and often the last morsel of food is passed to this person. We gathered at a Cambodian restaurant for this meeting.

One of the Chinese surgeons mentioned that he might like to send his daughter over to BYU for college and university. I told him that 15 of our 17 children graduated from the "Y" and it was a top notch school. Mike, who is a professor of Electrical Engineering there, organized a tour of the campus for this group. I hope he sends his daughter over here. Doug will go over there next month.

Well ongoing activity around here.


Next week is the Elk Hunt in Driggs, Idaho, with Rob who is coming down from Spokane. We were unsuccessful in our last attempt two years ago. Roy is flying in from Colorado as the offical Spotter and Filmer. We will drive up there in the pick up and stay at a ranch for three days. More about this when we get back.

Alles Gute, Dad

MISSIONARY REUNIONS

Dear Family,

It is Church General Conference time and with it all the visitors from all over and the many missionary reunions all over the valley.

I was in the Temple last week to greet visitors and who should walk in but friends from the Munich second ward. I attended their brother in law's sealing and we rattled on in German for an hour.


Last night Mom and I attended the Swiss- Austrian Mission reunion from my first mission. That is now 54 years ago and I can't believe it.

The top photo (now scanned and not so sharp) was taken in Zurich in 1956 on Lake Zurich. There are five missionaries there and from left to right, Elder Burton, Sis Chugg, her companion, Sis Michael, Elder Woodruff, my Junior companion, and the then younger Elder Wirthlin. Elder Burton's companion took the picture. This was our equivalent of "P" Day and notice that we were wearing required hats.

Last night at our mission reunion, I realized that after 53 years, all members of that group were present and the second picture shows that same group many years later. We were happy to be there and to stand together again. Of note is that on their return from their missions, Elder Burton married Sister Chugg and they had 8 children. He became a professional musician and music professor at Utah State college, Elder Woodruff a successful banker with a great family and you know about us. All filled extra missions later in life. So there it was, before and now; so much has transpired through the years; so great to see one another again. Our Faith and Belief are like a super glue that binds relationships through time... very hard to unglue.

We will enjoy General Conference,

Alles Gute, Opa