UNIVERSITY OF UTAH PLAYS FIRST FOOTBALL GAME

Utah played its first football game and they looked better than last year and beat Utah State.  Here is a Deseret News photo of Utah recovering the onside kick which lead to a touchdown and winning score.

The Huntsman family has given Mom and I season tickets to their box on the 50 yard line each year and it is the event of the fall.  I went with Paul and some of his kids.

My partner last night was Johnny who sat next to me and used the binoculars and played with the Iphone.  It is a great treat to go to these matches.  There is reserved parking and a special elevator to the fifth floor overlooking the stadium.  Then there is a catered dinner waiting for everyone...it is one of those catered deals which is pretty good.  This time it was pulled pork and chicken wings.

You see everyone at the games.

Here is who was in the box.  I was sitting next to Pres. Rasband of the seventy, Next is Jon Huntsman.  Further one is Elder Ballard. This used to be the fishing party when Jon invited us all up to Alaska for salmon fishing.

The next box is the University box and that is filled as well.  Elder Nelson said hello.  Pres. Uchtdorf always comes to the box and says hello and chats with me in German. I saw Pres. Plum who was our stake president in the singles stake.

We all enjoy the game and enjoy chatting with everyone catching up on the latest news.  I told Elder Rasband about my grandchildren who are on missions and did a little bragging....maybe just reporting but they are doing so well might have sounded like a brag.  We talked about the current missionary program.

Oh the game was good and Utah looked like they might play well this year.  They have discovered the passing arm of he quarterback finally.  We look forward to a great season.

Love,  Dad

JAKE GERTSEN GETS MARRIED

Dear Family,

We went to the wedding of Jake Gertsen, one of our great missionaries in Germany and Austria.  He married Rachel Holland.

Jake was one of our fine missionaries who served in the mission office for a while as secretary and was a great help.  He served in Austria as well and did a super job and was a great example and I thought highly of him. He was one of the office elders who sang at Paul Huntsman's Jr. baptism in Munich.

When I got back from our mission and was involved in the Single Adult University Stake, Jake was there in the ward I was assigned to.  He was thinking about a career in medicine so worked at the IHC hospital in Murray.  When I went in for a surgery, he wheeled me into the operating room. When we went back to Boston for the MGH surgical reunion, he came up from New York to visit.

Jake decided on a career in Hospital Administration and his first job after getting his Masters degree, was in New York City,  He then got a job at the same IHC hospital that he worked as an orderly, now however in the administration of professional fees.  He met Rachel at a single adult ward here in the valley.  Rachel was a member in a ward in the Riverton Single Adult Stake in which  I served as Patriarch. It is such a small world in the Church.

We went to a sealing in the Salt Lake Temple.  The officiator was a relative of Rachel and he remembered me from Boston.  He was in a Bishopric when I was on the High Council.  It was a sweet moment.

Jake and Rachel will be a perfect couple.  She teaches school in the valley.  She is a sweetheart of a person.

Here is the Salt Lake Temple from the Zions building where they had their reception.  We met many family and mutual friends.  We are so happy that Jake found his companion.  I used to nudge him a little  along the way but he had to meet the right one.

Congratulations Jake and Rachel und grosse Glueckswuensche!

Mom an Dad Wirthlin

BRY'S FARM

Dear Family,

We had a great trip to Michigan.  Mom and I stayed at the farm and it was gorgeous!

Bry has the farm looking really lush with all the old fences down and grass everywhere.  It was beautiful! They had some rain and the place was a rich jungle.  Here is a look from the deck towards the old sheep pasture. That great oak tress was a sapling when we first bought the farm.

 We did some work on the back forty.  I went back with the tractor and brush hog and began to reclaim more of the land.  After a while, I hit a submerged boulder hidden by the tall grass and managed to take out the hydraulic steering to the front end.  And that over a nest of yellow jackets!

I was mortified but the boulder was hidden.  Bry got under the tractor and took  pictures with the iPhone.  We then went up to Thieser Tractor Supply in South Lyon and ordered the part. Bry has a worker who is a full time employee, Lupe, who can fix anything.  He works at the farm and other real estate owned by Bry.

Bry thought, "No problem".  The next day the part came and with special tools, they went back and totally repaired the broken hydraulic steering cam.  They hooked the hoses up backwards at first so that when you turned to the right it went left.  That was repaired to the sound of a lot of Mexican music doming through the Pandora app and amplified in the barn.

Then Lupe. who is also a crack welder, fixing the trailing wheel on the brush hog.  Boy that was impressive.

I guess our plan is to work the equipment till it breaks and then do the repairs.  The chain track on the Bobcat broke and we said, "Lupe?".  He fixed that one too.

There were other builders in the barn.  Here is Scotty and James putting together a wooden catapult that Scotty designed and made. Scotty is quite a builder and carver and they have set up a gourmet workshop in our old barn.

Heidi and I went down to check the corn that Bry and I planted earlier in the summer. It was eight feet high but not quite ready and the trick is to get it before the raccoons.  It was so fun to stay at the farm when Bry, Heidi and Scotty slept over as well.

We had a big barbecue at the farm on Friday night with me at the grill cooking the flat iron steaks and franks.  Lots of other food and we all sat down for the feast.  Here is Maryanna getting another birthday celebration with donuts.

Here are some of the boys enjoying the farm, William, Peter, David and Nicky. There were hay rides and trips on all the vehicles.  Little Luke came up to me and said, "Opa, I want to ride every machine here!" I am sure he did.

Many friends were there.  Here is Rich Williams, Bryan's old friend from high school, who came to the farm as well.  He is retired and lives in Spain.  At one time he and his former wife owned a company that manufactured designer jeans.  I believe these were called, "Rock N Republic".  Mary wears the Victoria Beckham version. They were high quality jeans with a special crescent trademark logo over each back pocket and were vey expensive.  Rich did very well with this company and finally sold it.

Here is Rich, former Jean manufacturer, pointing to the trademark logo on a pair of Jeans he once made now modeled by Mary.  Kinda an interesting moment on the old farm!

Rob's wife, Eva was there also with her children. We stayed around until well into dark around a nice fire roasting marshmallows and just chatting.  Here is Eva with Anna and Elena. We set off fireworks and launched Chinese Lanterns.

Slept pretty well at the farm but somehow got a mammoth cold which is finally receding.  It was so great to be there.

Love, Opa and Oma

MARY'S WING LAKE PARTY

Dear Family,

Mary and Mark organized a Wing Lake party for the family while we were there.  Mary and Mark are purchasing their home in Bloomfield Hills and belong to this lake association. They brought their kids and the dog, Gunner der Jaeger.  Here we are all soaking up the rays at this most peaceful site.  Eva brogut her kids, Anna, Julia, Luke and Elena.  Kristina came with their kids, Al came with all eight kids, Mary's friend Abrey, came with thier kids  and it was a total blast!.

The old green Old Towne freight canoe has made it to Wing lake.  There is Scotty in the rear with a gang of kids who paddled around the lake.

Here are sisters, Mary and Al.  Al got a bee sting at the lake which brought on a pretty bad cellullitis in her leg.  They brought food and treats   There was lots of swimming, boating, playing in the sand and Gunner put on a great show leaping high into the air to fetch a ball in the lake.  It was much fun

Here is Bry in total relaxation finally getting a rest. He had put in a hard day at the farm the day before.

Maryanna had so many birthday parties.  It was her important 8th birthday and there was another celebration at Wing Lake.  Al brought doe specially baked donuts that we picked up in a bakery in Jackson. Here is Henry, Katie, Elena, Mary Mumu, Anna, Julia, little friend, James, Al and Klara.

We had thought about bringing that gang to Leo's there on Telegraph but that would have been a wild scene. So Mary took orders and called it in to Leo's and there is the giant greek salad that Mom orders for all plus there were Gyros, Omelets and frankfurters etc.

All the little kids had fun.  Here is Al's little guy, Charlie,  who is sporting bells around his ankle.  He tends to wander and that is one way Al can keep track of him. I had a good time with Rob and Eva's little Elena who came over and talked and talked.  We all had a great time and at sunset headed home, Mom and I to the farm.

Great summer,

Love, Mom and Dad

MARY ANNA'S BAPTISM

Dear Family,

Mom and I went to Michigan primarily to attend Mary Anna's baptism.  When asked what she wanted for her baptism, she replied,"The only thing I want is for Opa and Oma to come to my baptism."  so it was hard not to go. Check out Al's report. 

Here is Mary Anna with her new set of scriptures that we brought her.  Her dress was made by Alison maybe 15 years ago and Mary Anna was so cute in it.  There was another baptism at the same time in their ward.  We drove from the farm in South Lyon to Chelsea for this and it was great.

Mom gave a great  talk on Baptism and Paul did the honors. We all participated in the confirmation. In the dressing room, she jumped up and down waving her arms, "I did it!, I did it!" Mom talked about baptism being the first covenant we make.

Afterward there was this big get together at Al and Paul's farm. Al was not sure she would have the gathering as she had developed a cellulitis from a bee sting and had a hard time walking.  Paul picked up the antibiotics and she was on the mend but sore. She has great neighbors and one spotted that the lawn was not cut quite right so he got up at 7:30 AM and cut the lawn.  Another brought 40 pounds of potato salad.  They put table clothes on the tables and set up everything for this great get together.  Eva and her kids were there and Mary and Bryan came over with their families.

Here are some of the kids: Clara, Mimi, Maryanna, Julia, Heidi and Sarah. Little Luke was running all around the farm and all the kids had a complete blast.

Here is Opa with Clara, Anna, Kate Julia and Mimi. Chickens and Guinea hens were running all over.

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 Paul's family came for the baptism, confirmation and the party after. They came in carrying tons of fresh pizza and it was a feeding frenzy. Here is Paul, his brothers and parents.

While all this was going on, there was a new lamb born and here it is in the stall.  Maryanna named it "Summer Lamb".

Finally, I had picked up a super knock down cold, maybe from the plane and was suffering on Sunday.  Al and Mary got out their "healing oils".  They are into essential oils. Here is Mary applying frankincense and peppermint oil to my raging sore throat.  I must say, it did clear my sinuses. A massage of my right hand put me out.  Maybe there is something to this voodoo medicine.

It was great to go to this sacred event. Congratulations Marry Anna.

Love, Opa and Oma

DESERET NEWS ARTICLE ON THE SMITH REUNION

Dear Family,

The Church News section of the Deseret News had a good article on the Joseph Smith Sr, reunion.  Click on the link above.

Since sone of you may not have time, I will quote the paragraph on my presentation (it is not every day that one makes the Church News!)

"Roughly 1,100 descendants from Hyrum Smith, Joseph Smith Jr. and Samuel Smith met Aug. 1-4 for a family reunion at This Is The Place Heritage Park at the mouth of Salt Lake City's Emigration Canyon."..

."reunion included "Joseph's Miracle Run," a 5K race on Aug. 3 that celebrated the 1813 experimental surgery that saved young Joseph's leg. Elder Ballard distributed medals to finishers".

"Later that day, Roy Wirthlin, a retired vascular surgeon, presented newly discovered research on the surgery. He spoke of the medical skill of the famous doctor Nathan Smith, who performed this surgery 100 years before it would become standard practice. He also showed as-yet unpublished writings about the courage of the family, especially Lucy Mack Smith, in accepting the experimental surgery."  (not sure what was new)

A descendant of Nathan Smith and seventh-generation doctor, David Longcope, was invited to the reunion. He and his family ran in the 5K race, and Frances Orton of the Smith family presented him with the family history records of Nathan Smith, who is not related to the Joseph Smith Sr. family."

The next day, couple of  fellows from the Church audio-visual department came over to photograph and video the civil war surgical kit that I have that they will use as background material when they redo some of the JS Papers interviews.

Exciting times!  Next week we go back to Michigan to see Eva and Kids, Al and her family, Mary and her kids and Bryan and his family.  Maryanna is getting baptized and that is the purpose of the trip. When asked what she wanted concerning her baptism was that "Oma and Opa to come to my baptism"  Can't turn that down.  We will stay at the farm and I will check out the corn that Bry and I planted earlier this summer.

Our grandchildren missionaries are doing very well and we are proud of them.

Love, Dad

JOSEPH SMITH SR. FAMILY REUNION

Dear Family,

The Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith family group held its reunion in Salt Lake City this year.  This has been an active group trying to find and identify descendants of Joseph Smith Jr. and the other children of his parents.  There is a large LDS contingent through the Hyrum Smith line and there are descendants of Joseph Smith Jr. some of whom, are active in the RLDS church.  Our friend, Karl Anderson, has worked with this group for several years.

2103 marked the 200th anniversary of the surgery Joseph Smith went through when he was 7 years old.  The family organized a 5K  run to commemorate this as Joseph Smith liked to run as a young man.  The funds raised are going to a scholarship for a medical student at Dartmouth Medical School in appreciation for the role Dartmouth  played in the life of Joseph Smith.

Doug's family participated in the run. Here is something you do not see every day.  Kristina is there with Tommy, Izzy, Catherine and Rebecca with little Ellen .  Ellen and Izzy ran in the half mile race and here is Ellen with her number.  Elder Ballard was there greeting the kids.  He started the race by drawing a line in the dirt.  Mom said that Izzy and Ellen were really booking at the end.

I was asked to speak in the afternoon on this surgical event in the Prophet's life.  Here is Doug helping me get set up[ (notice how Svelte he looks after running and getting in shape for a marathon.)  The setup was complicated but we finally got the projector working on a huge screen.

The room was full, I think about 500 or so were there.  Here is the front row and the fellow in the yellow is Karl Anderson.  He has been a friend since the Swiss Austrian Mission days many years ago.  He lives in the Cleveland area and has spent must of his time studying, promoting and documenting the Kirkland period of  Church history.  His recent book, "The Savior in Kirtland"  is a most read.  He has been a good friend and we used to visit him when we were in Michigan; our families went to Cedar Point and had a ball.  He visited me and gave  me a blessing when I went to the Cleveland Clinic for open heart surgery.  It was good to see him again.

Flanking him is Don Larsen and his wife.  Don is a direct descendant of Joseph Smith through Joseph Smith III.  It was interesting to talk to him.

There was a descendant of Nathan Smith there as well.  This is Dr. Longcope, I believe a seventh generation grandson of Nathan Smith.  He practices in Denver.  And that was a great moment to meet a descendant of that great physician.  (picture from Meridian).

Well I finally got to present my PowerPoint talk.  I placed a seven year old descendant on a table on the podium so all could get a feeling of scale.  I talked about Nathan Smith who had successfully developed  a procedure and after care saving the limbs of many young people in that New England Area.  When he was called on to operate on young Joseph, he brought with him a 17 year experience of successfully treating chronic osteomeyelitis.  If there was a miracle, it was that the Smith family happened to live close to Hannover.  Had they lived in Boston, NewYork or Philadelphia, Joseph would have lost his leg. It was a miracle that Nathan Smith had developed this procedure and was the only one certainly in America (or anywhere) who performed it at all.  I pointed out that Joseph had four surgeries but only one definitive by Nathan Smith.  I gave them the long version of the story and hope I did not kill them with facts. I was tickled that Cheryl brought two of her daughters to the talk.  So it was a big day and a thrill to meet this family group.

Love to all,  Dad

KATJE AND HER FAMILY VISIT

Dear Family,

It has been busy here.  We have had several visits from old friends and missionaries.

Katje Muench Davidson came by with husband Daniel and their three children.  Daniel works for the defense department and is a linguist speaking Russian, Chek, and German.  Their kids are bilingual; Katje speaks to her children in German, Daniel speaks to the children in English and they are quite fluent in both.  Mark Twain said that "German was easy, children can speak it and dogs understand it!" It was fun to see them again.Their oldest daughter, Talita, speaks to me in German and English to Mom.  Katje and Dan save Russian when they do not want the kids to understand.

Katje has quite a history.  She came from East Germany as a high school exchange student to a great family in Springville, UT. When she returned to Germany, she joined the church and came to the US to study at BYU.  When I received the mission call to the Munich Germany- Austrian mission, the missionary department supplied language tutors.  I asked for a native speaker and they assigned Katje to do some brushing up.  Even though German was spoken in my home growing up and I had served in  the  the Swiss Austrian mission, it had been 46 years since I spoke German very much.  Kept up the reading but had little opportunity to speak.  So every working day, we had a Sprachstunde or an hour doing conversational German. She also helped Larry Manwaring who was assigned to the Frankfurt mission.

She was called to the Moscow, Russia, mission and served a good mission.  Here she is with an investigator in Moscow, Russia.

When she was released in 2005, She and her mother stopped in at the mission home in Munich.  Her mother, Marita Muench,  lives in Howersverda, Germany and we had a great visit in Munich.

On returning home, she went to BYU and met Daniel Davidson who had also been a missionary in Moscow but they did not know each other that much.  One thing and another and there were wedding bells.

Here we are with Katje and David at their reception.  I was so embarrassed that I missed the sealing as it was at 7:30 AM in the Salt Lake Temple and I think I was still operating on European time.

Well it has been great to observe all this over the last few years.  When we went over to Germany for Steffi Meyne's wedding, we spent time with Katje's mother and
I even gave a fireside in the Cottbus ward in German. Sis. Muench drove us down to Dresden and she knew every single location of the speeding cameras so we did not get geblitzed

When we count our blessings, we are grateful for  all the wonderful people we have met over the years.  This Davidson couple is great!

Love, Mom and Dad