Remembering Garth

Ready to relay: Remembering Garth Childs

Owen Olsen and his antique fire truck Jasper carry Garth Childs fire district chief to his final resting place at the Huntington Cemetery.

By By Diane Tadehara

Whether its fall, winter, spring, or summer, hunting season, fishing season or your favorite holiday season, having even one more season to share with those you love is a reason to fight cancer. It's Relay Season in Emery County. Join us as we celebrate Seasons of Hope on July 15-16 at Emery High School.  From the opening celebration of survivors, through the fun and entertainment of the evening that leads to the touching Luminaria ceremony where we can remember seasons share with loved ones who have passed and plan for future seasons with the survivors we love, Relay For Life has something for everybody.

We relay for a cure. We relay to show our resolve. We relay so anyone who hears the words, "You have cancer" can have a season of hope. We relay because we believe in a future where no one will have to hear, "you have cancer".

If anyone in your life has been affected by cancer, Relay For Life is for you. It's not too late to join us. For information go to www.relayforlife.org/castledaleut. It's the season to fight back against cancer.Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back.

This celebration begins about 12 years ago when a 47 year-old, wife and mother of four was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer. Her youngest, a son, was in his final year - expected to be the best - of high school. Her husband was deeply involved in the community on his local fire department, as an EMT, as a member of the County Jeep Posse, and very active in his faith. During her consequent surgery, chemo, and radiation, her husband stepped-up without question to see her through. The next five years would be years of Celebration for Alyce Childs and her family. She fought valiantly for the announcement that the cancer was gone. At her five year check-up and screening she was given a thumbs-up for a clean bill of health. Being aware of a niggling feeling, Alyce requested a pap smear be done six months later. The results returned abnormal prompting further testing. The diagnoses of stage III ovarian cancer was dropped on her. So again, Alyce's life was turned upside down with more surgery, more chemo, and more radiation. And again, Alyce's husband, Garth, was diligent in his care for her. She refers to him and his ability to take care of her along with all of his other obligations and responsibilities as, "amazing." Alyce continues to attend her screenings, but she does it without Garth.

Here we remember... just six short weeks ago another cancer story had a different ending. Garth's battle with cancer began six years ago about a year after Alyce won for the second time. He was 61 when diagnosed with prostate cancer. There was a biopsy and surgery that should have eliminated the cancer. They felt so let down and disappointed when they were told the surgery "didn't get it all." But it wasn't in Garth's nature to hold a grudge. His reaction was, "We are all human." By the time he was 62 the cancer had spread to the bone. Garth's oncologist told the Childs' that this was the "cancer from hell." It was very aggressive and rapidly growing. They were warned that it would be hard to fight. Garth started treatments that eventually included chemo, hormone replacement therapy, and five rounds of radiation that would last five years. Despite this overwhelming obstacle, Garth continued to work until he was 65.

Every position Garth held throughout his entire working career were centered on people. From the School District to Fire Chief to EMT and Chairman of the Board of Emery County Fire Chief's Association, his passion was to improve the lives of those around him. This shined through in his callings within his religion and his dedication to the acquisition of seven new fire engines for the county. His focus was honed over the last two years of his life as he helped design the fire trucks with the goal that "they would last 20 years!" The thing he hated in life was fire because it is so destructive. He had been known to say, "What fire didn't destroy, smoke would." Alyce watched as Garth took each fire personally. Always wishing he could have done more.

Doing more became a priority with his family. For two weeks during each of the last two years of his life, Garth shared a beach house in Depot Bay on the Oregon coast with his family. He simply adored his grandchildren. He was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather whose family all knew he wasn't afraid to do absolutely anything for them.

The only fear Garth had was that the cancer would render him incapacitated. He was at peace with his disease and aware of his mortality. He was not afraid of dying. His motto became to "do the best he could with what he had." Garth was a very humble man who loved people. He loved serving others and exchanging stories with people. "If you care about people it's what you do." Garth not only talked the talk, but he walked the walk. We remember the honor and dignity Garth lived.

We all have an opportunity to join the Fight Back. Relay for life and American Cancer Society lead the fight. Come join us in a fight against "cancers from hell." July 15, 2011 at 6 p.m. at Emery High School track. 

Emery County Progress

I want to help

I talked to Jana.  For my party they got the cakes from Costco. They make really good cake. The follks from my ward all use theirs.  I called them.  They have chocolate and vanilla Their cakes make 48 pieces.  I think that would be the best thing to do.  I will be happy to help pay for them and I know Nanci will also.  She could probably go pick them up. There is a fairly new Costco onthe corner in Murray  at State St and about 5600 so; right across the street from the big new IHC Hospital.  We ahave to order them in person, Nanci could probably go pick them up on Saturday. Will you folks be bringing Kirstin up to fly home?   Maybe you could order them then or maybe Helen could do it.
  
I talked to Dick; he and Thelma will be coming but he doesn't know about any of his kids.  Don's 16 year old son had Thyroid surgery last week; they did two incisions because he had a tumor  they removed.  They re waiting for the results to see if it was malignant- next week. Jim & Karma will come but they don't know if any of their kids will, maybe only kaitlyn. David & Eulale are hoping to.  He has to perform a wedding for a girl in their ward that day and she couldn't remember what time.  Barry & Jana will try.  She is involved in a Youth Conference that day.  I  am sure Lynda will but Michael can't walk any more; she might bring Chris.  I sent Jennifer an email and told her about it but they have Garth's wedding in Salt lake the next week so i  haven't heard from her.

Thanks so much for doing the invitations and he video .  I don't know if Nanci will be doing some kind of flowers.  I think it would be great  for everyone  not to have to make and
transport cakes.  If you need some cake server, I have two or three small ones; just let me know, OK? It should be a wonderful day for Helen.  

Love you,   Eva

From Sea to Shining Sea

The ocean this morning was super shiny and it made me really happy. I love gray skies and rainy days so much, and they are needed so much by the area and the people  (as well as the missionaries) but there is something so rejuvinating by a bright, sunny sky filled with white puffy clouds.

This week two crazy things happened! First, three of the families my companion and I were teaching got baptized! Three families! I was so darn excited. It was cool having that kind of success after so much labor and stress. Second, my companion got transfered! He was taken out of our zone on Sunday afternoon. They have sent him to Ocotal, the main city in a mountainous region, in the department of Nueva Segovia. He was sad and all of his converts were very upset too; I did ty to remind them that I was still going to be there serving them, helping them and loving them, but they didn't seem too inerested. Interesting.

My new companion´s name is Elder Salmon. He is from Tooele, UT, has about 15 months on the mission, is one-fourth Mauri and is related to my old coworker Danny. Small world. I met him, whew, so long ago (last year at the mission house in the South mission when he asked to use some of my contact solution). Little did I know that he would steal my suitcase for three weeks--completely by accident--and then become a good friend and eventually my companion. Yes, this is the Elder that had my suitcase with all of my clothes in it, all of my shoes, socks, everything! He is still so ashamed of that whole situation. Rather funny really.

This week my goal is to find new families to teach and get to the "progressing family" status and baptize one to two more families (baptizing in the next 2 weeks, for then I can just focus on retention and finding). I am excited because I'm finally creating the machine that I've been trying and working so hard to create for so long. The Lord has truly blessed me with the desires of my heart and is helping me to be consistent and to attain the success that I crave.

I love these people out here. They have an interesting culture, but their quirks are what make me love them so much more. They really want to do the right things, they are simply tossed around like a wave of the sea: they believe anyone and trust most everyone. A strength and a weakness. I love the Miskiu class that I am taking here. I am able to learn on a new level, and converse with the teacher about the culture and the people so much. It creates within me a new love and hunger to study this people, to study people in general: cultures, languages, arts, beliefs, religions. So interesting. Done rambling.

I love this place, I love my mission. I love all of YOU. Yes, YOU. I hope that anyone reading this letter finds something to help you each week, if not, pray. read your scriptures.
Have a fun week, look for opportunities to serve, to bless the lives of others, and look for ways to BE HAPPY.

Love,
Elder B

Ready to relay

I have been involved in several Relays for Life events. They are very rewarding. I will make sure that this year, wherever I end up, I will enter a relay for May Bolton and for Garth and Alyce. Important people in our lives need to be remembered. Thanks for forwarding this article. I am going to put it in my family history folder on my computer. 

Mel

A Spark of Creation

This email is named after a song from a wonderful musical entitled Children of Eden. Great music, great message. Anyway, I was listening to this song this week while I was studying the Book of Mormon. I was reading in Mosiah, a somewhat irrelevant fact, but this song came on and my mind was kind of whisked away into thinking about our souls. Here on the earth we have been given a sport of Spark within ourselves: a spark to be better, to think bigger, to create things, to be innovative, to be productive, to be good. Over time we, for some reason, lose that spark and instead of turning our spark into a blazing fire we let it simply sputter and go out. Let me quote some of the lyrics of this song:

"I've got a hunger burning inside me that cannot be denied.
I've got a feeling that the Father who made us, when He was kindling the pulse in my veins, He left a tiny spark of a fire smoldering inside, a Spark of Creation.
I see a mountain and I want to climb it, I see a river and I want to leave shore, where there nothing let there be something, something made by me...there things waiting for me to invent them, there worlds waiting for me to explore."

These words are truly inspired, as our beloved Heavenly Father has distilled in us this desire, this hunger. We are here on the earth to learn and to grow, to utilize this spark or smoldering coal to its ultimate potential. We can place lots of kindling, lint, etc. in their place and then use our spark to create something truly extraordinary. The lyrics of this song reflect this need, to make this fire get bigger and to make it all it is. It makes me think about my potential, my ability to kindle this tiny smoldering fire into the blazing bonfire it cam become. I know that we have so much potential with this one little spark that we often do not realize what it is that we can do. If we put all of our mind, might and strength to fulfill a dream or a desire or a wish of ours, we can accomplish whatever it is that we want to accomplish! We are amazing! And we have amazing help, divine help always right behind us, pushing us and helping us become better.

Music is a fantastic inpiration and can help us all to pick ourselves up and get back into the happy swing of life. This particular song helped me to be more positive this week, and as a result, 2 of the families that I have been teaching are got baptized (and we should be baptizing 3 or 4 more this week)! I am really excited. I am also learning more Miskito daily and have been presented an amazing opportunity to study with the University of Kansas Miskito study abroad classes on Wednesday and Friday morning. That is going to be very interesting, especially because the teacher is from San Diego, is liberal, and has already started with the Polygamy jokes. Yay. Strike one for her on the Bolton count. 

So despite all the crazy things that have been happening lately, I am doing well. I am working on communicating better with the people around me, especially the 5 other missionaries that i live with. BYU was a piece of cake compared to this, habitation wise obviously. Somehow my parents were miraculously able to instill in one so free spoken a hesitation to speak his mind. I am grateful for that gift because I have been able to save myself from many situations that many other missionaries cause by opening their mouths. Whenever I want to make a "commentary" or open my mouth and say something that could possibly incur an argument or tense feelings I remember the pearl of wisdom my parents gifted me: it is better to remain a fool, then open your mouth and remove all doubt. Now, that does not explicity say anything about tense situations, but you catch my drift. Hahaha. People who just speak whimsically make me almost sad inside because they have not learned that important lesson my parents taught me so long ago (it did take time to apply).

Well, I love you all. I also love my new edition of the Liahona with all of the General Conference addresses in it...in ENGLISH. Love that miracle. I hope you all can enjoy your lives, recognize the miracles around you and enjoy the wonderful music of the world that surrounds us. Have a great week, stay positive. Keep calm. Carry on.

Love,
Elder B

P.S. Mom, I played some of the sitar music I have on my iPod this week and now everyone I live with won't let me play any music, for they fear that I will put it on again. So now I have to sneak in my weekly doses of Ravi Shankar in private. :)

Linda's Computer

Myrna wrote: Linda Garrett could use some help with her computer. I told her that you might be able to help but that I was not able to do so. She downloaded a computer program that was supposed to protect her computer. Now it keeps telling her that her computer is in danger from viruses. I told her that I thought it was the dumb program. Anyway, she tried to trash it and it will not be trashed. Any ideas. This is Spaz's mom. Jim Garrett. I think  she may be your facebook friend.


Todd wrote: What is the name of the program she installed? What type of machine is she using?


Linda Garrett wrote: 
Myrna, I had an advertisement come for something called Mackeeper. I downloaded the trial, but it seemed to slow my computer down. I read the reviews and I am not so sure I want to purchase it. Sounds like they don't have the bugs worked out of it yet. What is your take on it or have you had any experience with it?


Todd wrote: Looks like one has to be familiar with the terminal window to get rid of the application. 

http://applefanatic.org/macbook/how-you-uninstall-mackeeper-t47091.html

Myrna wrote: Thanks Todd, I appreciate that and so will Linda. You could friend her on facebook. She has been a good friend to me for years and years.

To Nancy

Leonard wrote:

Nancy: 

I guess it was not to be that we should talk to each other. Nevertheless, I should write to you. For the past month we have not been home. We stayed at Julie’s for two weeks while she recuperated  from having  baby boy by C-Section. She could not lift anything over thirty pounds. It was a lot for her for three little girls and a husband who was in one of the busiest times of year for a bee keeper.

We came home for a day and then we flew to Ohio. That is where Todd lives. His oldest son graduated from high school. We were there for a week. We then flew to Melanie’s for a week. Ben also graduated from high school. We flew home on Monday. Kirsten called on Wednesday a.m. and asked me if I could come and help her for a week. So I drove to Colorado Springs for a week.

The birthday party is still in progress. The church has been reserved since the first of January. Either Jim Dixon or Kirsten will will do the DVD. As far as refreshments we will have family members bring some sheet cakes. We will have a punch bowl.  Concerning the invitations, I will do what I can to notify people.                                                                                               

Love, Uncle Tim

Myrna's 50th Class Reunion Photo Link

Saundra wrote: Following is a link to photos taken at our 50th reunion by Don Landavazo.  If you have problems opening the link, please let me know.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64254129@N02/sets/72157627001369198/

 

 

Sadly, we have lost yet another classmate.  Word was recently received that Dorothy Franco Lucero from East Carbon passed away on May 15, 2011.  She will be missed.

 

Please take care of yourselves, everyone.

 

Saundra

Myrna wrote: Thanks for the link to the photos!!!! I really enjoyed them. 

I wish the fun news did not have to also include bad news. I guess that is the age we are now. Did Dorothy have cancer or was it something else that caused her death?

Saundra wrote: Have no idea of the cause of her death.  Her son contacted Don Butler about two weeks ago to let him know of her passing.  If he told Don anything else, he did not share it.

Shawn's Birthday on July 10, 2011

yes, he got your card, thank you very much

 

we also got our anniversary card, and thank you very much for that, too 

Sent: Sunday, June 20, 2010 9:11 AM
To: Kimberly T

Thanks for sharing!!!!! And a happy all day to you, Shawn. I can't tell, but I hope our card was there. I mailed it on Wednesday, so it should have been. Love to you all. Love, M

---

From: trauntvein@comcast.net
Subject: Shawn's Father's Day
Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2010 08:45:14 -0600

Enter message here...

These photos were sent from Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) Elements 3.0. Find out more: http://www.adobe.com/photoshopelementswin

Strange People

This week I have been able to meet and deal with people who are, in my opinion, just bizarre people. I must add a little bit of a preface to this email just so that all may understand: the people here are fantastically warm, charismatic, charitable and overall amazing, yet they are frankly a strange and bizarre race. Now that all of that has been formally anounced, I shall be moving on with the stories.

So all of my baptismal possibilities fell through for this week, and I was rather upset until I received a reference from another missionary. My companion and I went to contact it and we found a really cool, big family, we'll call them Family Grisi. Well, Fam. Grisi was rather interested in the church as their daughter, age 14, was baptized without their knowing about a year-and-a-half ago. They are unmarried and have a total of 5 or 6 kids. I was surprised and super excited. We set a wedding date and a baptismal date and set an appointment for the next day. I ended up going on divisions with one of my zone leaders and we went to go teach the family together, and even though he knew thatthey hadn't been taught very much he did a baptismal interview to see if there were any serious sin-related problems in the family. As it turns out the husband in Fam. Grisi used to be what? A hit man. Yes, and even better....we were asked by our mission president to ask the man what the circumstances of the murders were and if the man felt any sorrow for the sins he had committed. The circumstances were ridiculous, and what was even worse was that the man felt nothing! He said that what he did was justified for the needs of his family and other reasons. In interviews that I've had with men that have killed people they generally cry like little children when I ask them if they feel remorse for what they have done.

We left that lesson/house with a variety of feelings, and the main one was lament. It is sad as a missionary to see how spiritually dead some people are, and how spiritually inept a whole entire race can become if they choose to follow the beliefs and traditions of men rather then the words and wonders of a loving Heavenly Father. The people here trust more in their parents and pastors than the Bible, the very book that they profess to read, believe in and cherish. The most sad thing of all is the attitude of the people when they know that the Church is the Church of Jesus Christ, but because of their fear of their families or pastors they reject the truth and seek the recongnition of men rather than that of  God. As a missionary this makes one reflect and think: what will become of these people, or how can I change this people?

Even in their own language they seem to confuse the very core truths and essentials of the Gospel. I think one of the biggest lessons that I learned this week has been that I truly recognize the power of and the simnpicity of the Restored Gospel. While other churches and pastors may be good, they are not authorized of God, so indicates the Bible. In all reality, our Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only most logical church on the face of the earth this day and I know it is the true church of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I know that we have a prophet on the earth today and that he leads us and guides us by revelation and inspiration. Many people do not understand that God loves us and still communicates with his servants...that is a sad fact.

Well, there have been lots of other strange people, like a band of drunk men and a few other random Miskito men who either want to kill us or save our lives depending on the day. I love this people and I love my time here. 

Have a great week! Choose to be happy no matter what happens in life, and choose to be charitable. You never know when you might need help from others, so DISH IT OUT while you can and accept it when it comes.

Love,
Elder B