To Our Two Missionary Elders

We have had a wonderful two weeks. We had two seminary graduations the same evening. In fact, we had to split up, Gramps and I, so that one of us could be at each event. We went to church with AnnMarie’s family and heard a great talk by Megan. Then the young people sang. Uncle Brandon had not felt well that day, so Shawn and Kimberly came to their home and helped Gramps give him a blessing. We then went to Shawn’s for dinner (grilled steaks) and Gramps went back to Howard’s for Kyle’s graduation and I stayed with Dane for his.

We compared notes afterward. Kyle spoke and talked about faith. Dane sang with the stake seminary and they did  three songs which the women started, the men then sang and they did a medley of the three combined together. The women started off with “As Sisters in Zion,” added in the Young Women’s song about being a daughter of God, and then the Priesthood joined in with their hymn. 

I asked AnnMarie for a summary of Kyle’s talk and she responded. “Kyle defined faith as the evidence of things hoped for but not seen. Then he said the lesson from seminary that influenced him the most was the one about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  They knew that Heavenly Father would answer their prayers, even if it wasn't in the way they thought.  They had faith that Heavenly Father's will would be done.  It revolved around "but if not."  The scripture was Daniel 3:18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.  When the men who cast them in and were covered with hosen and coats etc. still died, the three boys should have died.  But when the king looked in the furnace he saw one like unto the son of man.  Kyle said that when we are exercising faith, we also will never be alone.  Even if our prayers aren't answered the way we wished.  Our Heavenly Father loves us and Jesus Christ sacrificed for every single one of us so that we never are alone.”

Megan spoke about the prophet Joseph Smith and she said: “Most of the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants are answers to the questions that he asked the Lord. We can use his example as we seek our own personal revelation.”

Thursday, was graduation day for Dane. He graduated through a Utah Valley University program from a school called the Utah County Academy of Sciences (UCAS). The classes are held on UVU campus. Participants could also qualify to receive their associates degree from UVU. Dane still has a couple of classes to finish in the next short while before he will get that degree. 

Next Wednesday, Kyle will graduate from TimpView High School. He is preparing to go on a mission very soon and has most of his paperwork and interviews completed. Then I will have three grandsons in the mission field. What a blessing to our family.

We were so interested in the last news we had from you. You are receiving so many tender mercies from our Father in Heaven. It makes our hearts happy to hear about your experiences and we can see the many ways you are being blessed. We do love you!

Grammy and Gramps

Claire Hermanson

Helen called me yesterday and told me what you did for my Dad. I can't thank you enough for putting flowers on his grave. You don't know how much that means to me. I really hate the drive down to Manti so I don't go decorate Dad's grave. I do decorate for him on Mom's grave. You two are always in my thoughts and prayers and everything you do for me is greatly appreciated. Have a great evenng and I love you both so much. Claire

Camp Invitation

AnnMarie wrote: I am up working on camp. I just texted David that I need to know tomorrow if Erin is attending Girl's Camp with us. He replied.  He did read all of the messages that I have been sending him via email, text and Facebook.  It was as I was originally told, she is not going to go with us.  I told David that I wasn't trying to pressure her at all and I am not disappointed. I just was getting conflicting messages about her going with us so I was trying to track them down.  I am not harping on him and his family and I do not want to ever do that.

Myrna wrote: You were just extending an invitation and checking to make certain that the invitation had been received. When I spoke to Bree, she sounded like Erin was wanting to go with you again. At that time she must have not talked to her yet. You are a sweetheart. I am up late working on news. It has to be done by 8 a.m. Sorry. I was the one  giving the conflicting messages. Did you tell him that? You could have. I really thought that she would like to go again. When I was visiting with her she did, however, say something about thinking it might be fun to go with her friends in Hurricane. I should mind my own business. Let's all hope that, one day, before it is too late I actually learn how to do that--MYOB.

From LHT who thinks that the writer was very clever

RECALL NOTICE:

The Maker of all human beings (GOD) is recalling all units manufactured, regardless of make or year, due to a serious defect in the primary and central component of the heart.

This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype units code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of the same defect in all subsequent units. This defect has been technically termed "Sub-sequential Internal Non-Morality, " or more commonly known as S.I.N., as it is primarily expressed.

Some of the symptoms include:
1. Loss of direction
2. Foul vocal emissions
3. Amnesia of origin
4. Lack of peace and joy
5. Selfish or violent behavior
6. Depression or confusion in the mental component
7. Fearfulness
8. Idolatry
9. Rebellion

The Manufacturer, who is neither liable nor at fault for this defect, is providing factory-authorized repair and service free of charge to correct this defect.

The Repair Technician, JESUS, has most generously offered to bear the entire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs. There is no additional fee required.

The number to call for repair in all areas is: P-R-A-Y-E-R. Once connected, please upload your burden of SIN through the REPENTANCE procedure. Next, download ATONEMENT from the Repair Technician, Jesus, into the heart component.

No matter how big or small the SIN defect is, Jesus will replace it with:
1. Love
2. Joy
3. Peace
4. Patience
5. Kindness
6. Goodness
7. Faithfulness
8. Gentleness
9. Self control

Please see the operating manual, the B.I.B.L.E. (Believers' Instructions Before Leaving Earth) and the Book of Mormon (Best of Manuals) for further details on the use of these fixes.

WARNING: Continuing to operate the human being unit without correction voids any manufacturer warranties, exposing the unit to dangers and problems too numerous to list and will result in the human unit being permanently impounded. For free emergency service, call on Jesus.

DANGER: The human being units not responding to this recall action will have to be scrapped in the furnace. The SIN defect will not be permitted to enter Heaven so as to prevent contamination of that facility. Thank you for your attention!

 - GOD

P.S. You may contact the Father any time by "Knee mail."

(Because He is eternal, always on the line and is willing to listen and to help at any time. However, please remember, that sometimes He says, "No!" or "It is not good for you right now. Work a little harder.")

From Melanie: Dad, once again is correct. This is very clever. I will be saving this
to re-read again and again. I might even have to share it with my
family.

Mel

Vivian Fivecoat

I realized that, when we communicated about family genealogy earlier,  I had not told you that Ned Trauntvein's daughters are both on Facebook. You can look them up by typing in Trauntvein, because, though they are married, they both use their maiden name along with their married surname. If you want, and if you give permission, I will suggest them as friends for you.

Mexican Border War Volunteers of 1916

They were Mexican Border War Volunteers of 1916 from Springville. These photos were taken before they went to serve. Claude Smith is 2nd from left on front row and his brother Raymond James Smith (Myrna's grandfather) is 4th from left. The Border War, or the Border Campaign, refers to the military engagements which took place in the Mexican-American border region of North America during the Mexican Revolution. From the beginning of the Mexican Revolution in 1910, the United States Army was stationed in force along the border and on several occasions fought with Mexican rebels or federals. The height of the conflict came in 1916 when revolutionary Pancho Villa attacked the American border town of Columbus, New Mexico. The American army returned to the United States in January 1917. Conflict at the border continued and the United States launched several more smaller operations into Mexican territory until 1919.

Mina Ericksen Pritchett Stories

Great-Grandmother Mina Ericksen Pritchett tended me after my mother's death and my father's entrance into the war. Her daughter, my Grandmother Vivian Christene Pritchett Smith, needed to teach school. She had come to stay with us right away but fell down the school house steps, those inside the building, and broke her hip.

Grandmother Smith was the teacher/principal at the Wattis School in Carbon County. It was located in the mining community and had two stories. Great-Grandmother had been going down those steps with me, I was only a year old at the time. Somehow she slipped and fell. I still remember the event. I know, I know, you think I was too young to remember. However, when I later recalled the events and the fact that the lower wall was painted gray and the upper wall was a different color and that there was a definite line between the two, since it was painted that way on purpose, I convinced my grandmother that I did know that much at least. I never went back to that school after we moved to Price and moved in with Aunt Renee, my mother's only sibling, and Uncle Max for the first while. I was in need of care and my grandmother was in need of a teaching job to pay the bills.

At any rate, that day that she broke her hip, Great-Grandmother lay on the steps and whimpered only a little. She was concerned about me and worried that I might be traumatized by her fall. She had not dropped me and I was not injured. I remember stroking her hand and patting her while a first aid crew was summoned. She ended up staying in Salt Lake City with Great-Aunt Jessie and Great-Uncle Gilbert while she healed. Aunt Renee ended up being my care-giver during the day.

It was Aunt Renee who potty-trained me. She managed to train me in just a day or two. It was an "ah-ha" moment for me. She was a good and loving woman who had  patience but could also be firm. She just explained everything to me as though I could understand. And I did. I still remember the delight that I had in wearing "big" girl underwear. She was the oldest sister of my deceased mother but had married a few months after her. She did not have a child as yet. Still she had all that was necessary to train me--love, patience, firmness. (My mother, married young and died young. My cousin, Garth, oldest of Renee's children, was three years younger than I was.) 

When I was four or five, Great-Grandmother came back to stay with us. At some point, we moved to a tiny house not far from Aunt Renee and Uncle Max and I still spent a great deal of time with my cousin Garth, who was more "little brother" than cousin. (I thought he was the most beautiful baby ever and I thought I should be given the opportunity to "mother" him.) Great-Grandmother never did heal well. She used a cane for the rest of her life and I called her, "Grandma-with-the-Cane." She would drop the cane and say, "Down went McGinty to the bottom of the sea. . ." I would pick it up and give it back to her. I later found out that was part of a song that had some popularity when she was young. "Down Went McGinty" was copyrighted in1889, by Spaulding & Kornder.

The cane didn't really slow her down, however. The only weakness I ever noted was that she was not as quick to get to her feet. One time, after the war, when we lived on South Carbon Ave., I invited a hobo (there were a lot of them who road the rails and since we were just a few blocks from the railroad tracks, would stop and ask if there was work to do in exchange for a meal) into the house without giving her a chance to get up. He was a good man and simply stood inside the door, rather uncomfortably, until she was able to talk to him. Of course, there was always wood to chop in exchange for a meal and she was a good cook. All of us had compassion on the once-soldiers who returned to the states to find a glut of other men like themselves all wanting work. I still got the lecture of my life, to that point, and never, ever invited anyone into our home even when she was at the door. Grown-ups could make that decision but children could not.

She did have a sense of humor. She liked jokes and loved to tease. One day before we moved to Carbon Avenue and when I was four or five, I told her that I wanted to catch a bird. "If you can sprinkle salt on a bird's tail, you can catch it," she said. She bundled me up, it was cold, and sent me out into our fenced back yard with a salt shaker. I spent the morning happily trying to sneak up on birds so I could sprinkle salt on their tails and catch them. I never did get either the joke or a bird. When Grandmother came home she said, "Oh, Mother, you didn't!" She then sat me down and explained that, of course, if you could get close enough to a bird to sprinkle salt on its tail, you could, just as easily, catch it without the salt. No one that she knew of had ever caught a bird by just grabbing it with their bare hands. Birds, after all, could fly.

One thing that always impressed me about Great-Grandmother, was that she was the daughter of the second wife in a polygamous marriage. I remember many of the stories she told me about being a young girl who grew up in Sanpete County. Her parents were Danish converts and spoke Danish, along with English which they thought was wise since they now lived in America. The children were encouraged to speak English at home. Great-Grandmother could tell me nursery rhymes in Danish. One of my favorites was the name of the different fingers said in Danish. Years later, when I went with my husband to Denmark for the Danish Temple dedication, I asked our hostess about the little ditty I had learned. Children still hear the same little nursery rhyme. 

The Ephriam Heritage Festival

http://www.scandinavianfestival.org/

The 2013 Scandinavian Heritage Festival is set for Thursday through Saturday, May 23-25th (Memorial Weekend) in Ephraim, Utah.

The festival begins Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Noyes Building at Snow College with the Scandinavian Heritage Conference, a free educational event. The conference continues Friday morning.

The Little Scandinavian Dinner, a gourmet Scandinavian smorgasbord, will be served Friday at 6 p.m. at the Greenwood Student Center at Snow College. The cost is $13 for adults and $8 for children 8 years and younger. No reservations are required.

From Friday noon through Saturday at dusk, the festival grounds on the north side of the Snow College campus and at Pioneer Park, 50 N 100 W, will buzz with costumes, dancing, storytelling, entertainment, historical tours, craft and food booths and more. 

Elder Russell M. Nelson - The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Nelson will speak on the importance of family heritage and will share some of his heritage in the Sanpete Valley. He has a deep-rooted Scandinavian heritage, and some of his direct line ancestors helped settle and lived their lives in Ephraim

BYU International Folk Dancers

Come partake of music and dance in a stunning, 90-minute performance. The showcase incorporates dance and music into a showcase unlike anything audiences have ever seen. The ensemble's authentic costumes and precise performance leave every audience member breathless and anxious for more

There are new postings but some are from the past.

At the Trauntvein Home website, I have decided to go back and add, according to date stamp, all the past history I have accumulated in files on the computer. At one point, when the old beast downstairs failed, I thought I had lost it all. Alan repaired it and it has better memory and a new CD burner. It was approximately $300 (I have the order form) for all of the parts. When that happened, I decided that I would add all of the past stuff, with a few exceptions, to the site.

Dear Toni, Help Me Out Regarding Another Question

Myrna wrote: Did Uncle Frank have something to do with the early Disneyland? I remember, through the haze of years, that he took us there when they were just building the original park and I think that he may have been a founder or contributor of some sort. True or not?

Toni wrote: Gee, I don't know..... I never heard anything about that and he never took me there or anywhere else for that matter. T.

Myrna wrote: I was with his big sister and he loved to show her around. He had enjoyed being her baby brother for many years and liked to have a chance to be with her.

Toni wrote: Whose big sister?  Gilbert's??  I'm confused.

Myrna wrote: Uncle Frank's (my grandmother, Vivian). That is why I got to go places with him. It was the fact that he liked to shown Vivian around. He was really, really good to me. I remember that your Dad and Mom also took us all to the beach. I still love the ocean.