Ryan

Kirsten wrote: Hey everyone,

Ryan is going in for his lip surgery (to correct the first surgery and retuck his left nostril) next Tuesday. If your fast sunday is this week, would you mind adding him to your prayers? It's not as invasive as his first surgery, but will still take two hours and he's older now and is already nervous. Thank you!

Love to you all, Kirsten


Myrna wrote: Do you need us?

Yes, it will be more of a trial, I am certain, because he is aware. I hate being sedated. I keep all of you on the temple prayer roll. Do you want me to add him to another temple prayer roll?


Kirsten wrote: I already asked dad to do that last week when I talked to him.  Hopefully, he remembered.  We're hoping to go to the temple on Saturday and will add his name here.


Myrna wrote: Both of us did it last week. I always do, every week. I know that I have always said that we did not need to add everyone but then I started working there and found out that one benefit is that we can list our whole family, so I do. I have the idea that, every week, one or more of us really need those special prayers.

I should have asked if you wanted me to add him to another temple's prayer roll--like Provo, etc.

I would live with principle

I would live so that Heavenly Father and my Savior are welcome to be part of my life. I would like to think that they could be comfortable to be with me in my day to day activities. That means that I must control myself and think appropriate thoughts, view appropriate and uplifting television shows and movies, communicate in wise an loving ways, listen to good music, read good books, study the scriptures more diligently, pray each night (and not just fall into bed). The computer should be my aid and not my master. I need to stop wasting time, losing my temper and, above all, I need to not be critical, judgmental, jealous and selfish. 

I would treat all my fellow beings with kindness. My goal, through all my life, has been to be kind to all and treat all people as I would like to be treated. In practice, I have found it more difficult to treat well those who have wronged me. I have learned, through long years of practice, that it is best to attempt to make peace with all and to think well of even those who do not like me. I have more compassion for those who do not like me with good reason. Sometimes my actions in standing up for what I believe have been justified. Sometimes they have not, but I do not like to have bad feelings with anyone. Especially when it is my error, I need to continue to work toward peace. I would be forgiving.

Another goal, based on principle, is to always keep on working to improve and to learn and to accept new challenges. I think that failure is only that if I cease trying. As I age, I would endure to the end. I know that Heavenly Father is in control and that there are no accidents. Someone said that everything happens for a reason. I am learning that even trials in life are for my best good.

I would work at nurturing my most important relationships by being affirming, positive, considerate and giving of self and personal time. I will continue to seek out those who need a show of increased love and give them that love. I need to always stop, pause, and remember that I am a daughter of God and He loves me and I love Him. I also love my Savior. I would show this love by treating my family as though they are the princes and princesses of a royal lineage.

Auntie Helen is Ill

Leonard wrote: Your Auntie has been in the hospital since Saturday. Just thought you should know. Love you, Dad

Myrna wrote: Auntie Helen has been in the hospital since Saturday night. She admitted herself to Murray Hospital because she had a great deal of abdominal pain. She called Auntie Eva and had Jim and David Dixon come and give her a blessing on Sunday. She let Auntie Eva call Uncle Don, Nanci and us. She did not want anyone else to know and she definitely does not want to end up being a topic of conversation nor does she want calls. 

Dad called her and she told him that she did not want ANY visits or calls or flowers or cards and that she did not want all of her friends and neighbors to know. 

You can't keep a good man down, however, and so Dad has been calling her. She had a blocked bowel. They did an MRI and found she also has a lump in her abdomen and spots on her liver. They did a liver test today, Tuesday, but will not have the results until later this week. I have no idea when she will go home nor what the lump may be nor what else they are going to do. 

Apparently, you really can't keep a good man down because, when Dad called tonight, Jim Dixon was there and answered the phone. Anyway, she doesn't want any fuss but I told you in spite of that. I know, I know, I never follow the rules. You can all chide me. I do keep some secrets. I just have to think that it is more important to do that than to not do that. I have been pondering about what I should do. 

I decided to let you know but urge you to not call. That way, you will, at least, be prepared if the news is not good and can pray, as am I, that it will be good news. Auntie Helen has been a good sister to me and I am worried about her.

I just had to share this photo. This was taken just after Melanie was confirmed by her Grandpa.‏

The photo was taken in front of the Henry and Gladys Trauntvein home in Kenilworth. I made Melanie's dress.(I don't know why we didn't worry about the dress being white, as is the custom today. We just wanted it to be pretty.)  She was baptized in Nephi on Saturday and then we traveled to Kenilworth so that her grandfather could confirm her on Sunday. Though he doesn't look it in the photo, he was quite ill and was battling cancer. Also in the photo are left to right, Shawn, Todd and Eric.

Melanie Changes Because of Move

Melanie wrote: With the impending move to Texas, there comes a need for a change of email address. After the 17th of January, we will no longer be Comcast subscribers, because they don't service the area we are living in. Sadly, the moniker, cellmel, has been adapted by someone else on gmail, so I have to go for a total remake of email address. 

If you want to continue to correspond with me through email, my new address is:
melaniekay.bolton@gmail.com. 

I will be sending out change of address cards at a later date. If you no longer want to remain on my email address book, would you please respond to this email and I will make the change. 

Thank you.
Melanie Bolton

Adult Henry Trauntvein Children at Kenilworth

These photos are all take from slides that Leonard took after coming home from his mission to Denmark and prior to his marriage. They would have been taken in 1959.

Leonard Trauntvein, Jimmy Dixon, Eva T. Dixon, Helen Trauntvein, Thelma G. Trauntvein, Don Trauntvein

Below: Thelma Trauntvein, Jennifer Trauntvein, Don Trauntvein when Thelma was expecting Jens.

Henry and Don Trauntvein at Kenilworth during the winter.

Principles vs Resolutions

And just what are principles? We had the discussion today at Relief Society that a resolution, made at the beginning of each new year, is different from a principle based creed that can be lived a lifetime. I quit making resolutions at the New Year. I have made some life-changing resolutions, from time to time, but I have not waited until New Year's Day to do so.

So what is the difference in a resolution, a guiding principle, a creed? My thoughts were still unclear. Are there different types of principles that would guide us? Are some of them religious and some not?

*******
The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: "When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the Gospel--you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil [died] before you will have learned them. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 348).

*******

This is the way our Heavenly Father became God. Joseph Smith taught: "It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of God. . . . He was once a man like us; . . . God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 345-46).

*******




“That word principle in the revelation is a very important one. A principle is an enduring truth, a law, a rule you can adopt to guide you in making decisions. Generally principles are not spelled out in detail. That leaves you free to find your way with an enduring truth, a principle, as your anchor."
(The Word of Wisdom: The Principle and the Promises, President Boyd K. Packer April 1996 Conference)

*******

"We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Fourth Article of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

*******

Definition of PRINCIPLE
1 a: a comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption
b (1): a rule or code of conduct (2) : habitual devotion to right principles




c: the laws or facts of nature underlying the working of an artificial device
2: a primary source : origin
3 a: an underlying faculty or endowment
b: an ingredient (as a chemical) that exhibits or imparts a characteristic quality

Definition of RESOLUTION

1: the act or process of resolving: as
a: the act of analyzing a complex notion into simpler ones
b: the act of answering: solving
c: the act of determining
d: the passing of a voice part from a dissonant to a consonant tone or the progression of a chord from dissonance to consonance
e: the separating of a chemical compound or mixture into its constituents
f (1): the division of a prosodic element into its component parts (2): the substitution in Greek or Latin prosody of two short syllables for a long syllable
g: the analysis of a vector into two or more vectors of which it is the sum
2: the subsidence of a pathological state (as inflammation)
3 a: something that is resolved
b: firmness of resolve
4: a formal expression of opinion, will, or intent voted by an official body or assembled group
5: the point in a literary work at which the chief dramatic complication is worked out
6 a: the process or capability of making distinguishable the individual parts of an object, closely adjacent optical images, or sources of light
b: a measure of the sharpness of an image or of the fineness with which a device (as a video display, printer, or scanner) can produce or record such an image usually expressed as the total number or density of pixels in the image

Definition of CREED

1: a brief authoritative formula of religious belief
2: a set of fundamental beliefs; also : a guiding principle

(Merriiam-Webster Dictionary)

*******

Guiding principle: an idea which influences you very much when making a decision or considering a matter.

*******

The last definition is the one that finally made some sense to me. I would make my creed something that would last a lifetime and it would be something that I could live daily; that would guide my decisions; that would determine what positions I took. Am I finally on to something, or not?

Whom the Lord Loveth

AnnMarie: Mom, if you are still on the computer, I need to be at work around 8:30 tomorrow.  Is it okay still for Matthew and Rachel to come?

Myrna: I will look forward to it. I am going to bed because I keep falling asleep at the computer. I have no ida why, I had plenty of sleep last night. 


Myrna sent: "My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby (Hebrews 12:5-7, 11).From "Teachings of Presidents of the Church: George Albert Smith, 2010"

Those Whom the Lord Loveth

Mom, if you are still on the computer, I need to be at work around 8:30 tomorrow.  Is it okay still for Matthew and Rachel to come? AnnMarie

On Wed, Dec 28, 2011 at 9:48 PM:

"My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby (Hebrews 12:5-7, 11).From "Teachings of Presidents of the Church: George Albert Smith, 2010"

When he was 18, he found work with a railway surveying party. While working this job, the glare from the sun on the desert sands damaged his eyes. This left George Albert’s vision permanently impaired, making it difficult for him to read and causing him discomfort throughout his life.

Personal Illness and Other Trials

For most of his life, George Albert [Smith] did not have particularly good health. Though he enjoyed swimming, horseback riding, and other physical activities, his body was frail and often weak. Besides his chronic eye problems, Elder Smith suffered from stomach and back pain, constant fatigue, heart trouble, and many other ailments throughout his life. The stress and pressure of his many responsibilities also took a toll on him, and at first he was unwilling to slow his busy pace in order to preserve his health. As a result, from 1909 to 1912 he fought an illness so severe that it kept him bedridden and prevented him from fulfilling his duties in the Quorum of the Twelve. It was a very trying time for Elder Smith, who wanted desperately to resume his service. The death of his father in 1911 and a serious bout of influenza afflicting his wife made Elder Smith’s recovery even more difficult.

Years later he shared the following experience he had had during this period:

“A number of years ago I was seriously ill. In fact, I think everyone gave up on me but my wife. … I became so weak as to be scarcely able to move. It was a slow and exhausting effort for me even to turn over in bed.

“One day, under these conditions, I lost consciousness of my surroundings and thought I had passed to the Other Side. I found myself standing with my back to a large and beautiful lake, facing a great forest of trees. There was no one in sight, and there was no boat upon the lake or any other visible means to indicate how I might have arrived there. I realized, or seemed to realize, that I had finished my work in mortality and had gone home. …

“I began to explore, and soon I found a trail through the woods which seemed to have been used very little, and which was almost obscured by grass. I followed this trail, and after I had walked for some time and had traveled a considerable distance through the forest, I saw a man coming towards me. I became aware that he was a very large man, and I hurried my steps to reach him, because I recognized him as my grandfather [George A. Smith]. In mortality he weighed over three hundred pounds, so you may know he was a large man. I remember how happy I was to see him coming. I had been given his name and had always been proud of it.

“When Grandfather came within a few feet of me, he stopped. His stopping was an invitation for me to stop. Then—and this I would like the boys and girls and young people never to forget—he looked at me very earnestly and said:

“‘I would like to know what you have done with my name.’

“Everything I had ever done passed before me as though it were a flying picture on a screen—everything I had done. Quickly this vivid retrospect came down to the very time I was standing there. My whole life had passed before me. I smiled and looked at my grandfather and said:

“‘I have never done anything with your name of which you need be ashamed.’

“He stepped forward and took me in his arms, and as he did so, I became conscious again of my earthly surroundings. My pillow was as wet as though water had been poured on it—wet with tears of gratitude that I could answer unashamed.

“I have thought of this many times, and I want to tell you that I have been trying, more than ever since that time, to take care of that name. So I want to say to the boys and girls, to the young men and women, to the youth of the Church and of all the world: Honor your fathers and your mothers. Honor the names that you bear.”

Eventually Elder Smith began to regain his strength, and he emerged from this trial with a renewed sense of gratitude for his testimony of the truth. He told the Saints during a subsequent general conference: “I have been in the valley of the shadow of death in recent years, so near the other side that I am sure that [if not] for the special blessing of our Heavenly Father I could not have remained here. But, never for one moment did that testimony that my Heavenly Father has blessed me with become dimmed. The nearer I went to the other side, the greater was my assurance that the gospel is true. Now that my life has been spared I rejoice to testify that I know the gospel is true, and with all my soul I thank my Heavenly Father that he has revealed it to me.”

Various physical ailments and other adversities continued to afflict Elder Smith in the coming years. Perhaps his greatest trial came in the years 1932 to 1937, when his wife, Lucy, suffered from arthritis and neuralgia. She was in great pain and by 1937 required almost constant care. Then a heart attack in April 1937 nearly took her life and left her even weaker than before.

Though he worried about Lucy constantly, Elder Smith continued to perform his duties as best he could. On November 5, 1937, he spoke at the funeral of a friend, and as he sat down after his address, someone handed him a note telling him to return home immediately. He later wrote in his journal: “I left the chapel at once but my Darling wife had breathed her last before I arrived at home. She was passing while I was talking at the funeral. I am of course bereft of a devoted helpmeet and will be lonely without her.”

Lucy and George Albert had been married a little more than 45 years at the time of her death. She was 68 years old. Though he deeply missed his wife, Elder Smith knew that the separation was only temporary, and this knowledge brought him strength. “While my family are greatly distressed,” he wrote, “we are comforted by the assurance of a reunion with mother if we remain faithful. She has been a devoted, helpful, considerate wife and mother. She has been a sufferer for six years in one way or another and I am sure she is happy with her mother and other dear ones over there. … The Lord is most kind and has taken away every feeling of death, for which I am exceedingly grateful.”

Another Golden Oldie

Melanie wrote: These are fabulous. I remember the Christmas tree being in the corner, until we put in the overhead light (that I later cracked with my head, decorating a Christmas tree). We always had such pretty trees. Did we, one yea,r need to nail it to some boards, so that it wouldn't tip over? Love you. Melanie

Todd wrote: How about one year Dad nailed it through the carpet into the floor so it wouldn't tip over. If you move the recliner by the front door, you can see the tale-tale marks of the nails through the floor.

M

yrna wrote: Dad is still chucking. I did try to fill the hole with wood putty but it didn't work too well.