Mostly about Utah
This is the movie that Daniel sent with his last email. I think he wanted to demonstrate that it is wet in Washington. Indeed the western side of Washington receives as much as 160 inches of precipitation annually, making it the wettest area of the 48 lower states (by comparison Utah receives 15 inches annually). Weeks or even months may pass in Washington without a clear day.
If you cannot see the video click here.
Daniel in a Sacred Grove look alike
I included a bonus feature movie this week. It should be on Dad’s blog soon and worth a viewing. It shows the wonderful weather of Vancouver, Washington. This week was great! We met some new people that expressed interest in the church.
The man with the bird is from Moldova. He speaks Russian and Romanian and also English. He always likes to feed us when we come over and we’ve eaten some interesting stuff. Nothing I can’t handle… :) So he showed us his birds in his backyard and it was neat. The other photograph is of Elder Harris and I. The last one seemed to apply to missionary work somehow so we took it.
The best story is of Ryan. We were riding home on our bikes at the end of the day and we passed up someone jogging on the street. We decided to stop and talk to him and he asked us a few questions, but not that much. We were going to give him a card so he could call the number etc, but he said well you can just stop by later my apartment is over there etc.
It was awesome we usually ask if we can come to their house later, but with him we didn’t and he asked us if we’d like to come over. So weeks passed with us trying to contact him. He was busy, but with our efforts we finally met with him. He was really receptive and we also seemed to become instant friends. We told him how we like to hike on Tuesday and play basketball and he’d be welcome to come. So the next day he texted us and said that he was going surfing and that he had some hook-ups to where we could go for free. I’ve always liked surfing so I thought about the offer :). We talked to him and explained we can’t go surfing. Anyhow it was really cool to have someone be interested in being our friend and interested in the gospel.
Moldova with bird and Elder Harris
We also met with Moriaa, another person we just happened to stop by and talk to. He was in a hurry and said he just lived around the corner and is always outside. So we went back later and tracked the houses there and asked his neighbors until we found him. He only really has free time on Saturday so it took about three weeks to finally contact him. He was very prepared for the message we taught. We basically taught how churches became corrupt over time to us and led perfectly to the Restoration. It was truly a great lesson and the Spirit was strong. The Lord blessed us greatly to find these people and we’ve been getting busy.
I’ve been here in the area about six weeks now and its incredible to see how the work has progressed. It has required lots of effort, but I think we’ll have some baptisms really soon. We’re excited to see how it all turns out. I don’t think I need anything. Our new mission president comes near the end of June. Happy birthday Paul! Thanks for all you do family!
To Dad:
I really like telling people about your conversion story. People here, when we say we’re from Utah, normally are like, “Oh… they’re all from Utah…” or “Is that where all Mormons come from?” kind of attitude. So I jump in real fast and say well my dad is from England. I also say, his plan was to come to America, find a wife and then go back to England, but he only got half the deal, my Mom wanted to stay in America. They always laugh at that.
Love, Elder Willoughby
Elders Harris and Willoughby
Elder Daniel Willoughby is serving in the Washington Kennewick Mission. If you want to communicate with Daniel, write in the comments or use one of these addresses.
USS Utah was a battleship that was attacked and sunk in Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. A Florida-class battleship, she was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the U.S. state of Utah. Prior to World War 2 she had declined in usefulness and had even served for a while as a mobile target for gunnery practice. In 1941, however, she had been refitted and was in use for training purposes when sunk by a torpedo in the Japanese attack.
Utah was laid down on 9 March 1909 at Camden, New Jersey, by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation. She was launched on 23 December 1909 under the sponsorship of Miss Mary Alice Spry, daughter of Utah Governor William Spry; and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 31 August 1911, Captain William S. Benson in command. (Wikipedia)
Semaphore flags are a system for conveying information at a distance by means of visual signals with hand-held flags, rods, disks, paddles, or occasionally bare or gloved hands. Information is encoded by the position of the flags; it is read when the flag is in a fixed position. Semaphores were adopted and widely used in the maritime world in the early 1800s. Semaphore signals were used, for example, at the Battle of Trafalgar. This was the period in which the modern naval semaphore system was invented. This system uses hand-held flags. It is still used during underway replenishment at sea and is acceptable for emergency communication in daylight or, using lighted wands instead of flags, at night.
Photo Credits: Library of Congress USS Utah | Turrets on Utah | Semaphore on Utah
This month it was Paul’s birthday so we asked him where he wanted to go to eat. He decided on Dairy Queen, which explains the photograph above. He’s the good looking chap in the yellow shirt.
Aurora’s favorite food seemed to be water, which was in plentiful supply.
Aurora cannot have any milk products so she got to eat just a cone. That’s Adelaide holding Aurora who soon will have a little baby sister.
Derek, Bryson, and Sarah
Perhaps the title of my post is somewhat over done but to me it seems like Derek, Sarah, and Bryson have been in exile. However, the part that says return is right on. Yes, Derek, Sarah, and Bryson are returning to Utah. Derek has found work in Salt Lake City and the family will be here by Memorial Day.
When Jill heard the news she was just ecstatic. Jill is not an emotional women (sounds contradictory, I know) but this once she was a whoopin’ and a hollerin’ all over the house. You could not find a happier woman in all of creation.
I am just glad it has finally happened, a lot sooner than I supposed. I admit the last month I have been praying every morning for them to return. Why am I then surprised when prayers are answered? Lack of faith I suppose.
One thing is known for sure. We won’t be letting them get away so easily the next time, if there ever is a next time.
Welcome home!
Photograph by Adelaide
This photograph was published by Bain News Service between 1910 and 1915. These Mormons were probably refugees from Mexico. In addition to numerous Mexican refugees, nearly 3,000 Mormons sought refuge in El Paso in 1912, going there from Mexico to escape dangers in the border areas during the Mexican revolution that started in 1911. The refugees received a warm welcome from the hospitable people of El Paso—so warm that many of them decided to stay.
When Salazar, a leading revolutionary general, demanded that the Mormons surrender all their guns to his army, they hurriedly made preparations to move their families out of Mexico.
At 7:30 a.m. on July 29, 1912, the Colonia Diaz colonists were informed that they would need to leave in three hours. By 10:30 a.m., 800 colonists were ready to board trains bound for El Paso. The trains contained mostly women and children. Many of the men rode north hoping to avoid militia in an effort to drive their remaining livestock across the border. Many were robbed, some were beaten, and a few were killed. As many as 1,500 colonists found themselves homeless in El Paso during the summer of 1912
Once villages were abandoned, Mexican troops ransacked and burned homes and property. Livestock was slaughtered and left to rot in the street. Furniture was set ablaze within comfortable, clean homes. Machinery was smashed to bits. For a revolution ignited by poverty, such wanton acts of destruction revealed an alarming rage. The Sonora colonies were utterly destroyed never to be resettled.
After 25 years of careful cultivation, the crops and orchards were particularly bountiful that season and the colonists were forced to leave just before harvest. George Sevey wrote in his memoirs of the day the women and children left:
Our gaze is now turned toward the north, there like field after field of corn, oats, and potatoes, clothed in that deep rich verdure which promises abundant harvest of mature products.
Source: The 1912 Exodus of Mormon Colonists from Mexico
Photo Credit: Library of Congress. Here is a high resolution 5784 x 4218 pixels version, in Tagged Image File (TIF) format, that you can download.
In March I was travelling along I-45 when I saw Sam Houston, larger than life. His statue, near Huntsville, Texas, towers 67 feet in a clearing by the freeway. On the base of the statue I spied a plaque inscribed thus:
The great misfortune is that a notion obtains with those in power that the world, or the people, require more governing than is necessary. To govern well is a great science, but no country is ever improved by too much governing…most men think when they are elevated to position that it requires an effort to discharge their duties and they leave common sense out of the question.
The best part of this quote by Sam Houston is saved till last: “Govern wisely and as little as possible!”
If our current state governments would take those seven words to heart we would soon see improving economies and happier people.
Derek, Bryson, Sarah, Jill, and Rick at the feet of Sam Houston
Representative Alan Mollohan
Last week Democrat Representative Alan B. Mollohan of West Virginia lost in a primary defeat that indicates the anti-incumbent sentiment is alive and well. Mollohan’s loss comes soon after Utah’s Senator Bob Bennett was stricken from the November ballot in the state’s Republican state convention.
Mollohan is a 14 term veteran who hasn’t faced a serious primary fight in over a decade and was considered unbeatable. Mollohan was dogged by ethics allegations over the past few years and opposition for his vote in favor of President Obama’s health-care bill didn’t help.
Mollohan was a veteran appropriator who took pride in delivering federally financed projects to his state. But voters’ alarm over deficit spending is turning that practice into a liability. With unsustainable debt voters are not buying pork barrel projects and bailouts any more.
See if it is time for your Member of Congress to be retired by perusing The Bailout Page.
Photo Credit: The National Academy of Sciences
Bailout Bob
The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), commonly called “The Bailout”, is a program to which a majority of citizens were opposed. The total cost, as of May 2010 is $586.3 billion, allocated or promised to 836 companies and 13 programs. $79.7 billion was spent on companies for which the bailout was not intended, such as in the non-financial sector, with money going to auto companies such as GM.
There is still $319.4 billion outstanding, 59.6% of the total. See Pro Publica for the latest State of the Bailout.
I personally believe a strong message should be sent to those still in office, who voted for the bailout. An appropriate way to do this is at the ballot box in November. However, the opportunity may come sooner. When the citizens of Utah had the chance to finally tell a senator what they thought of his bailout vote, he was dumped at the state convention.
I have created a Bailout page containing a table so that citizens can see which of their representatives and senators voted for the bailout. When a politician leaves office, by choice or otherwise, I will update the table.
