Sunday in the Berkeley ward

Wardhouse entrance across the street from the sidewalk coffee shops

Relief society room with fireplace and bas relief sculpture of Joseph Smith organizing the RS (I think)

Beautiful chapel

On Sunday, we attended church with Heidi and Steven in the Berkeley Ward.  The building was very pretty.  Here is my shot of the chapel, with pipe organ, exposed beams, interesting colors, etc.  Persons we talked to said that the members built this chapel themselves.  The building was dedicated in 1934, the pipe organ added in 1938.  I borrowed the first three pictures from a website, LDS Architecture (https://ldsarchitecture.wordpress.com/category/meetinghouses/united-states/california/berkeley-ward). 

I liked the RS room with its art work.  The building is on a small corner lot with only a minimal parking lot.  Across the street are sidewalk cafes, populated by people with anything but an interest in Sunday worship.

The ward had a different climate than ours in Utah--It was fast Sunday and we heard some of the testimonies that we more non-testimonies (expressions of not knowing)--Several women in pants, and not as many men in white shirts and ties--Some long-haired boys preparing and passing the sacrament.  But overall, I thought it was good--a sort of gathering place for persons living in a challenging environment and trying to achieve faith.  I was reminded of what the Church ought to be, as implied by the Savior's parable of the mustard seed--a sheltering place for all kinds of strange birds.

Oakland temple

Notice the Crape Myrtle in bloom at the left.  It was one of our favorite plants in NC.

We did a second endowment session on Friday morning, followed by some initiatories.  Then we went to find Steven and Heidi and Derek.

View of City from Oakland temple

Oakland skyline, with San Francisco through the haze

Bay bridge, west span on left (SF to Yerba Buena Island), east span center to right (Yerba Buena Island to Oakland).  Tallest tower belongs to Golden Gate bridge (SF to Marin Co.) and is in the background.

Derek at the Oakland temple

It was fun to tend Derek on Saturday morning, as Heidi and Steven attended a sealing session.

Oakland temple from our apartment, Thursday-Friday-Saturday, Oct 29-31

The lane from the apartment to the temple, lined with young? Sequoias.  Left is Oakland mission office

City from apartment balcony

Night view of temple from apartment balcony

Small Sequoia along the lane to the temple

Temple from apartment window

We got to Oakland temple late afternoon on Thursday, and got settled in a room in the Todd house, which is temple housing.  It is located across a street to the north of the temple grounds next to the Oakland Mission office and a Distribution Center.  We then went over to the temple, ate dinner, and did an endowment session.

By the way, we talked with several missionaries and discovered that this was the mission that Jerry Meredith had presided over, until last July, and missionaries seemed to remember him and his wife with a lot of fondness.

Sacramento temple, Thursday am, Oct 29

The Sacramento temple is really in Rancho Cordova some 20 miles SE of Sacramento and is part of a 47 acre plot that contains a stake building and various Church recreational facilities.  The design might be called a maxi-mini, with a floor plan and capability similar to the Reno temple, but with more expansive size and decor, in fact about twice the square footage.   It follows the same design as  the Newport Beach and Redlands temples. 

Reno temple, Wednesday am, Oct. 28

The Reno temple is a mini-temple, and attending made us homesick for our temple in Raleigh NC.  The setting is way out of town up on a hillside in a nice residential area.  More than any other of the temples we visited, we got a sense that this temple is truly a refuge for members in the Reno area, who must lead their regular lives surrounded by much that is less than desirable.  The people that we met there sure loved their temple.

We were quite impressed with the session officiator.  He led the group with dignity and his prayer seemed to communicate that he was well acquainted with his Heavenly Father.  He was a humble but handsome man of about 60 who had the hands of a working man with callouses and several blackened fingernails.  He was at the recommend desk as we left so we stopped to visit with him.  He was a BYU graduate no less who owns and runs a ranch near Austin, NV, which is a three hour drive west of Reno on the "loneliest road in America" and has a population of about 350 people.   He and his wife serve as temple workers.  He said that left home about 3 am that morning in his truck with a load of hay to sell, that he needed to deliver after his temple assignment is finished in the afternoon.  He also mentioned that until recently he had been serving as the President of his Stake.  That seems amazing, since (we looked it up) the Austin branch is at least 110 miles from the Stake center in Fallon NV, and where most of the wards in his stake are located.

A temple worker's holiday

What would a couple of temple workers do when their temple closes for two weeks for cleaning?  Why, go traveling to visit as many temples as possible, of course.  Wendy and I made an eleven day loop through northern and southern California, where we visited and did work in 10 temples and put 2075 miles on our Traverse.  We did 12 endowments each, and a total of 23 initiatories and 16 couple sealings.  We also watched Derek so that Steven and Heidi could go to the temple.  We spent a wonderful part of a Saturday with them, on Sunday went to church with them in their Berkeley ward and had Sunday dinner with Steven’s family in Livermore, CA.  We spent Monday seeing huge Sequoia trees in Calaveras Big Tree State Park.  We also checked out the construction site for the Cedar City Temple.

Wendy and I left home early on Tuesday, October 29th and drove to Salt Lake to the Jordan River temple where we did an endowment session, then left to drive across Nevada to stay the night in Reno.  

On Wednesday morning, we each did an endowment in the Reno temple, then we left for to stay the night near Sacramento.  

On Thursday morning, we each did an endowment in the Sacramento temple, then drove on to Oakland, where we had reserved a place in the Oakland temple housing. We were there early enough that evening to do an endowment session that evening.

The next morning, Friday, we did another endowment session, plus a batch of initiatories.  We found Heidi later that afternoon, and went to dinner with them and then to a member family’s home that she had arranged.  

We went back to the temple with them on Saturday morning, tending Derek, while Steven and Heidi were in the temple.  

We stay again at the members’ home and attended church with them then caravaned the 50 or so miles to Livermore where we spent an enjoyable time with them and with Steven’s parents and a brother’s family for dinner.  Then we drove to a motel in Stockton for Sunday evening.  

In the morning, Monday, we traveled eastward into the Sierra Nevada foothills to see the big trees, then in the mid-afternoon drove to stay the night in Madera.  

On Tuesday morning, we visited the Fresno temple for an endowment session, then left for Los Angeles, where we had reserved a room in temple housing for Tuesday night.  Arriving there in early evening, we had time to do an endowment session that evening.  

On Wednesday morning, we did another endowment session then some more initiatories, and then did the hour or so drive to our motel near Redlands (it was actually in San Bernardino).  After checking in, we made the  15 minutes drive to the Redlands temple and did an early evening endowment session.  After the temple we found a Sizzler and celebrated Wendy’s birthday with a nice dinner.  

On Thursday morning, we headed for Las Vegas and, arriving at the temple there mid-day, did an endowment session.  Then we continued on, reaching St. George in the early evening, got a motel, and then went to the temple where joined a sealing session and we able to do a bunch of family couple sealings.  

In the morning on Friday, we went back to the temple to an endowment session.  After the session we drove to Cedar City where we took time to find the site for the new temple that is in the early stages of construction in that city, have lunch, then continued on northward.  From Cove Fort we crossed the mountains eastward on I-70 to Salina then north to Manti, arriving mid-afternoon for an endowment session there.  We arrive home about 8 pm to find all well.

We tried to do "selfies" at each temple.  Some of them left something to be desired, photograph-wise.

My journey to learn about keeping the Sabbath Day

In the little community in Washington State where I grew up, most people weren’t religious, but there a were a few persons with various religious backgrounds, and I saw a handful of persons trying to keep the Sabbath in their own ways.  One family turned back the church of the wife’s childhood for comfort and strength at the time that their tiny daughter was dying with leukemia.
This was a church that believed there was special benefit from holding their Sabbath worship on the Hebrew Sabbath–that is, Saturday.  The nearest congregation was an hour’s drive away.  Their farm was a couple of miles beyond our place on the same road.  So at about 8 am every Saturday, we saw their family loaded in their car and heading for church, and we would see the car returning home in the late afternoon.  Besides the long day at church, there was not a sign any outside farm work being done in their fields on Saturdays.  My dad believed that the father in this family had a history of not being a particularly industrious farmer, but thought he saw this man making a special point of working a long day in his fields on Sunday, he supposed, to make some kind of point about his new-found religious commitment.  For myself, I felt some admiration for them in their attempt to establish a standard for themselves which was different from the community.

Lessen #1: Trying to keep the Sabbath may make a person stand out and seem different. 

In my early experience, there were people from several different religious traditions trying in their own ways to keep the Sabbath.  I sense that things have changed.  In our Church we may have to stand alone.
Witness BYU’s position on not playing competitive sports on Sunday and how difficult this seems to be making the finding of a football conference.  I wonder why universities such as Southern Methodist, Baylor (Baptist), TCU (Church of Christ) are not standing with us on avoiding Sunday play.
But If Not...
According to one Jewish author, refraining from work in the Sabbath day had a very significant meaning anciently to the Jewish people.  The animals had to work constantly to have the food needed for subsistence. When people kept the Sabbath Day by refraining from any labor on that day, they demonstrated their superiority to the animal kingdom. Humans are not slaves to their physical needs; they can rise above the level of beasts, as they choose to devote a portion of their time to higher things, to worship, to spiritual development.

Lesson #2: A basic part of keeping the Sabbath is to find ways to rise above the routine weekday
work and activities on Sunday.

From a part member family--mother member, father not–living a distance from a branch of the Church–about the only family in the community with connections to the LDS church.
My mother chose to take her children to the only church in the community, a community Bible
church affiliated loosely with the Presbyterian church.
I also remember Sundays as a baseball day.  My dad loved the game and played with our local baseball team until he was in his 40s.  On Sundays in the summers, we would usually go to Sunday School in the morning at the Community church and then go over to the ball field which was nearby at the High School and watch the Glenwood town team play a game of baseball.  Most of the people watched the game from their cars parked along the left field and right field foul lines.  I gathered with the little boys behind the backstop, where we chased foul balls and returned them for a nickle.  I also liked being able to stand behind the backstop to see what stuff the pitchers had.
Eventually my Dad started to join the rest of us at Sunday School most Sundays.  And one day he surprised us all.  He said that he wasn’t going to do work on our farm on Sunday any more.  He said his reason was that so many things broke down or went wrong when he tried to do farm work on Sunday that he didn’t get anything done anyway.  So this became the new rule in our family – no farm work on Sunday (except for required care of our animals, of course).
But there was one other exception.  He said, “I won’t work for myself on Sunday, but I will work
for someone else who needs my help.”
Most of the men in our community were part-time farmers but also had outside jobs.  They worked together to help each other as best they could.  And sometimes there were projects that required quite a few hands, such as threshing a field of oats.  The only time that there were enough men available was on Saturdays or Sundays, and the harvest had to be done when ready.
So, “I won’t work for myself on Sunday, but I will work for someone else who needs my help.”
While this may not be the perfect example for Sabbath keeping, it helped me begin to get a sense about the Sabbath, that there are times that important judgments need to be made, especially when someone else needs service. It may not always be possible live the Sabbath by a set of rigid,  predetermined rules of do’s and don’ts.  Christ taught something like this, when criticized by the Jewish leaders for considering the healing of a man on the Sabbath:
11 And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?
12 How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. (Matthew 12:11-12)

Lesson #3: Sometimes (always?) we need to be flexible and to be guided by the Spirit as we decide what we should or shouldn’t on the Sabbath.
Its very personal and individual. I have found that it helped to ask myself the question about things I should or shouldn’t do on the Sabbath: Will this bring me closer to God and welcome the continued presence of His Spirit in my life? Or better yet Elder Nelson’s question: What sign do I want to give to God this Sabbath day?

I spoke earlier of how we loved baseball in my family.  I played on the high school team and did well enough, but I was a year younger than my class and kind of skinny kid and didn’t hit with much power.  Just after my 17th birthday I graduated from high school.  Several of us seniors were invited to join the Town Team, the same team my dad had played for when I was small.  By this time, I had grown to my full height and had begun to add a few muscles.  It was late May and as I started attending the Town Team practices I noticed that something different was happening as I took batting practice.  The ball seemed to fly off my bat in a new way.  I watched my drives consistently going deep into the outfield or even beyond the fence.  It was almost magical and I think the older men on the team were also taking notice.
Early in the first of June we had a visitor drop in.  It was the Branch President who had made the one-hour drive to our place with an invitation.  He said to me and my younger sister, “We have reserved the baptismal font at the Hood River Ward for a branch baptismal service on Saturday.  Why don’t you come and be baptized?”
I had been praying for this opportunity since I was 8 years old.  My father had opposed our being baptized until were grown up enough to make a mature decision but now gave his approval.  We made the 90 minute drive to Hood River and they baptized us and confirmed us members of the Church.
Over the next few days I pondered the implications of what had happened.  Things has changed.  I had made promises to the Lord that I needed to try to keep.  The Town Team played all of its games on Sunday.  I knew that I just covenanted to be obedient to commandments that included keeping the Sabbath Day holy, and spending my Sundays playing baseball games seemed now to not fulfill that expectation.  So I made the choice that I felt I had to make and retired from the Town Team.  You might say that I had retired from baseball at age 17.
From that circumstance Sabbath Day observance took on a lot of meaning to me.  I had had to sacrifice something dear to me to keep my baptismal promise.  Therefore the things I did or didn’t do on the Sabbath took on more meaning.  It was like my Sunday actions were a sort of offering I was making to the Lord.  They were like the tokens of my covenant of obedience, sort of like the whole of the Sabbath being an extension of the taking of the sacrament as an act of covenant renewal.  It seemed as if the entire day became the sacrament, perhaps in the spirit of the Lord’s instruction to the Prophet Joseph:
12 But remember that on this, the Lord’s day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord.
13 And on this day thou shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart that thy fasting may be perfect, or, in other words, that thy joy may be full.
14 Verily, this is fasting and prayer, or in other words, rejoicing and prayer....
16 Verily I say, that inasmuch as ye do this, the fulness of the earth is yours.... (D&C 59)
If you reviewed the April Conference talk by Elder Nelson in the last Ward Bulletin, he reminds us that the Sabbath was given to Israel “as a perpetual covenant, a constant reminder that the Lord may sanctify his people.”

Lesson #4: Seeing the keeping of the Sabbath for the full day as an opportunity to make and renew my covenant with the Lord.

But a bigger test was in the works, with more discoveries about keeping the Sabbath.  I had been offered a scholarship to Washington State University and other schools had shown interest, but after my baptism there was a spirit that whispered that I needed to attend BYU.  While getting an education I could also become educated about the Church and immerse myself in it.  That would take money.  Ours was an area of small farms and logging.  The major logging company in our area was quite generous in offering jobs to local kids at full union rates and the union was generous also in waving their usually fees so we could work.  The pay was sufficient for me, while living at home, to save enough money in a summer to nearly pay the cost of a year at BYU.
The setting was beautiful. However, the work was dirty, sometimes dangerous, and the human
environment was terrible. The men were hard, vulgar, and profane. The man I was paired with on the logging crew was all of that plus a verbal bully. There was a long dusty one-hour ride back and forth on the company bus to the work location each day and I was the only non-smoker.  I would sit in the back with my hands over my face to try to filter out the smoke in the air.  I did this for the next three summers, because I knew that it was my ticket to a better life, both job-wise and also spiritually.
We were working 6 day weeks with Sunday off. The Sabbath saved me. It gave me strength to endure.

Here is Lesson #5: When I totally cleared my mind of the challenges of the work week and devoted Sunday to spiritual things, I was refreshed and renewed in my heart and mind so that I could endure another awful week in the woods.

Sleeping out

Last night there was a full moon and no prediction of any rain, so Wendy and I decided we would sleep out in the back yard.  We blew up one of our air mattresses and set it up on the patio with some blankets, and started our night out.  The moonlight was pretty on the high clouds.  Some stars shone through.  There was a wind all night, that caused us to have to use a second blanket to stay warm.  We thought that the SF canyon breeze normally doesn't start until early morning, but it was with us for the entire night.

This air mattress has a slow leak.  We pumped it up again at about 2:30 am.  By 5:30 am we were bouncing off the concrete of the patio and the batteries for the pump gave out, so we finished off the night in our regular bed.  We then slept until almost 10 am.

Pictured is our unfaithful mattress this morning.

Congratulations, Jonathan

We need to celebrate another Eagle Scout among the grandchildren in our family.

Forgive me

There is a big hole in my blogging history.  I can't seem to get motivated to add things when so much of the family is around, like they were this summer.  This picture needs to represent family camp and the Chandler's summer long presence, and all the other wonderful things that happened.
I took this sunset picture on July 20th at a time when several of the families gathered for a Family Home Evening to cook s'mores at the little campground above the Spanish Fork reservoir.  (Valerie has great detail in her blog of that date.)  Thanks to her for keeping a better record.

The reservoir is in the foreground.  Utah Lake is a thin sliver with Lake Mt. silhouetted behind.

Wisdom of Isaac

I was quite amused at a statement Isaac made to Henry while the latter was throwing something of a tantrum--he gave his brother a warning that he was endangering his health with his crying, in that he was risking dehydration in his body and loss of saline in his blood.

Eagle 16+

Ethan qualified for the rank of Eagle last evening at a Board of Review here in Spanish Fork.  Congratulations! 
I was going to call him Eagle 14, then thought that we ought to credit two sons-in-laws, Quin and Greg, who are Eagles, so that would make 16.   Then I thought, "Well, why not also credit grandson-in-laws toward our family count--that's the reason for the "+", because I don't know for sure who of this quickly enlarging group are Eagles.  

Here is a quick summary of the progress toward Eagle by other grandsons who are Scout age:
Jamison--Life scout.  Had everything finished for Eagle except to get final approval and carry out his service project.
Jonathan--Life scout.  Needs to complete 2 more merit badges, and then plan and carry out his Eagle service project.
Joshua--Star scout.  Has most of the merit badges, but needs leadership time for Life.  Just appointed Sr. Patrol Leader.
Aaron--First Class scout.  Needs two more merit badges for Star.
Trenton--First Class scout.  Needs four more merit badges for Star.

Eric's Eagle Court of Honor, May 12, 2015

Receiving my endowments in the Logan Temple

I had my “Sacred Grove” experience in connection with the Logan Temple.  All my life it has been foundational to my faith.

During my sophomore year of college I made a determination to serve a mission.  Being able to be baptized into the Church at age 17 and then to attend BYU and learn so much more about our religion and the joys I had felt from this fulfillment and new direction in my life, gave me a feeling of needing to give back something to the Lord.  I got my call to the North Central States Mission in August of 1957 to enter the Mission Home in Salt Lake City early in October.  I planned enough time after leaving my home in Glenwood, WA, for a brief visit with my sister Dorothy who was at Ricks College and also with my Uncle Franklin and Aunt Ellen in Provo, before reporting to the Mission Home.  I also wanted to experience another temple in addition to Salt Lake, so made plans to take out my endowments at Logan, as I traveled from Rexburg to Provo.  I recall thinking that this temple might have some special meaning being the temple in which my grandparents, Frank Davenport and Kate Lufkin, had been married and in which my great-grandmother, Martha Ann Lufkin, had labored diligently for our ancestors.

I left Rexburg on the middle of the day on October 2, 1957, traveling by Trailways bus.  We arrived at the bus station on the south end of Main Street in Logan about 5 pm.  I got off and walked about three blocks north to a hotel where I made arrangements for a room, planning to take out my endowments at the Logan temple in the morning.  However, I had not thought to oversee the removal of my baggage from the bus, and when I returned to the bus station, I was disconcerted to find that my bags had stayed on the bus for Salt Lake City.  I remember the sportshirt I was wearing, with blue and silver stripes.  My suits, white shirts and ties, shaving equipment, personal gear, and worst of all, my temple recommend, were in the bags on their way south.

I went to my hotel room and pondered my situation.  I was especially concerned about not having the temple recommend and being frustrated in my plan to receive my endowments in the Logan temple the next morning.  I began to wonder if this was some kind of sign to me that God did not want me to serve a mission, or that I wasn’t worthy to serve.

I knelt beside the hotel room bed and started to pray.  I prayed out loud, probably the first personal vocal prayer I had ever said.  I expressed my frustrations.  I listed my sins and asked forgiveness.  I think this prayer went on for a long time.  Finally I asked what to do now.  A voice came, not in my ears, but in my feelings I believe, but I knew exactly the words: “Everything is going to be alright.  Go to bed and get a good rest.  In the morning, get up early and go up to the temple.  Everything is going to be alright.”

I was comforted but surprised.  I had no idea that God or His Spirit spoke in actual words.  Then I began to wonder at this experience.  Was this real?  Did I just make it up?

I began to pray again, and offered the same prayer I had just completed, identical to the first, my frustrations, my sins.  Finally I asked again what to do.  I was blessed to hear or feel the same words of assurance and direction:  “Everything is going to be alright.  Go to bed and get a good rest.  In the morning, get up early and go up to the temple.  Everything is going to be alright.”

I thought that I had tested the Lord enough and better do what He said, so I called the front desk for an early wake-up call, and went to bed.  I slept well enough, and when the call came in the early morning at perhaps about 5:30 am, I got up, cleaned up as best I could, and headed for the temple.

It was a clear fall morning, a little before sunrise.  I could see the towers of the temple off and on, so walked up the streets toward the temple.  The sun was just starting to shine between the trees.   At first I did not see any signs of human life around the temple.  I passed by the south end of the temple and circled around to the east.  I had had no experience with temples and did not quite know what to do next. I noticed some people with small suitcases going into a door on the east side of a small annex on the north part of the temple.  I stood watching for several minutes.  I began to again have some questioning thoughts.  “You don’t know what you are doing.  They won’t let you come in.”  I told myself, “You heard the instruction and the promises.”  I gritted my teeth, walked to the door, I pushed it open.  Immediately inside there was a man at a desk.  I stammered something about getting my endowments but not having my recommend.  He said I could talk to the Temple President and immediately called for him and I was ushered into the Temple President’s office. 

I shared the entire story with the Temple President.  He pulled a book out and asked me a couple of questions about my home branch and the name of the Branch President.  That seemed to be consistent with the information in the book.  Then he said, “I will let you get our endowments this morning on one condition–that you tell your story to a group who are meeting in the chapel before the session.”

So that is how I got my endowments on October 3, 1957 in the Logan temple, without a recommend, without shaving or brushing my teeth, and wearing a sportshirt with blue and silver stripes to the temple.  I also learned some significant things that have helped me throughout my life, about how the Spirit works and how kind and patient is our Father.

More Logan Temple family history

Here is some more of our family history connected to the Logan Temple: 

     “...I heard the late Apostle Marriner W. Merrill, President of the Logan Temple, relate this extraordinary incident.  He was sitting in his office one morning, he said, when he noticed from the window a company of people coming up the hill to the Temple.  As they entered the Temple grounds they presented rather a strange appearance, not only in dress but in their mode of travel.  Some were riding on horses, others were in conveyances, and still others were afoot.  He wondered who they could be as he was not looking for a company of such size that particular morning.  They dismounted from their horses, stepped down from their conveyances, put their animals under the shade and walked about complacently as if they had a perfect right to be there.
     “A little later a person unknown to Brother Merrill entered the room.  Brother Merrill said to him: “Who are you and who are these people who have come up and taken possession of the Temple grounds unannounced?”  He answered and said: “I am Satan and these are my people.”  Brother Merrill then said: “What do you want?  Why have you come here?”  Satan replied: “I don't like the work that is going on in this Temple and feel that it should be discontinued.  Will you stop it?”  Brother Merrill answered and said emphatically, “No, we will not stop it.  The work must go on.”  “Since you refuse to stop it, I will tell you what I propose to do,” the adversary said.  “I will take these people, my followers, and distribute them throughout this Temple district, and will instruct them to whisper in the ears of people, persuading them not to go to the Temple, and thus bring about a cessation of your Temple work.”  Satan then withdrew.
     “President Merrill, commenting on this strange interview with the Evil One, said that for quite a period of time the spirit of indifference to Temple work seemed to take possession of the people and very few came to the House of the Lord.  The presumption was that Satan had carried out his threat which caused a temporary lull in Temple work.
     “It is not to be wondered at that Satan, who is the enemy of all righteousness, is displeased with Temple work.”
(“Lucifer Tries to Hinder Temple Work,” by President Rudger Clawson, Church Section, The Deseret News., Dec. 12, 1936, Vol. 344, No. 61., cited by N. B. Lundwall, “Temples of the Most High, 9th Ed., Salt Lake City, Bookcraft, 1954, p. 107)

There is a reference to this event in the history of Martha Ann Townsend Lufkin.  The Lufkins had moved to Logan to be close to a temple and for her especially to be able to do temple work for her ancestors.  The Satanic visit to the temple president must have been known to persons in that temple district, but, as reported by her grand-daughter Dorothy D. Hall, “for awhile it seemed that every time Grandma planned to go to the Temple, something occurred to hinder her.” [Then she remembered having heard that] Satan can hear what we say but he can’t read our thoughts.  So, after that whenever Grandma appeared, ready  for the street, it was the signal for someone to hitch the horse to the buggy so she could have her day at the temple, unopposed.”  (Dorothy D. Hall, “Histories of Parents and Grandparents of Kate Naomi Lufkin Davenport,” 1986, p. 34)  Thus, Martha Ann was able to thwart the adversary and resume her regular work in the temple. 

The version of the story that I heard from my mother, Hazel Davenport Lewis, as she had heard from her mother Kate, was that the specific signal was for her to have her apron on backwards, at breakfast.  I like that version.

The time when this occurred is not identified.  Elder Merrill was President of the Logan temple from its dedication 17 May 1884 until his death in 1906.  Aunt Dorothy Hall speculates that it happened shortly after the Lufkins had moved to Logan but before her experience in the temple with the appearance of the person for whom she had just served as proxy.

The Lufkin's home in Logan was at 251 South 100 West.  Consistent with the practice of many small-town Mormons, George owned and worked some farm ground away from the town, but the family lived in the city.  They probably had barns or sheds on their city property for horses and equipment.  It was a large lot, with a stream of water (irrigation ditch??) running through it, and was next door to property that was a part of Brigham Young College (a Church-sponsored high school and teacher’s preparation college) which later became the site for Logan High School.  The house was about 9 or 10 blocks (1.1 miles) from the temple.  Since Martha Ann was short in height and in her later life carried quite a lot of extra weight and the trip to the temple involved a significant climb in elevation, she apparently was in great need of a horse and buggy in order to make the temple trip.

Logan Temple thoughts

For our anniversary on Tuesday, May 12th, Wendy and I planned a temple trip.  We went to Logan Monday afternoon, got a motel room, and took Krysta to dinner.  On Tuesday morning, we did a family endowment each in the Logan temple. Then we drove to Brigham City and did an endowment in that temple in the afternoon.  We went to dinner with Dorothy in Ogden, then attended an Eagle Court of Honor for Eric that evening.  We stayed at the Alison and Quin’s that night, had breakfast with Wendy’s son Brian, then while I went to our dentist and got a tooth filled, Wendy had lunch with her sisters. I worked some with Wendy’s sister Sue on some family history things and we go home later afternoon on Wednesday.

Our visit to the Logan temple made me quite pensive.  I had the thought that almost 130 years ago my great-grandparents, George W. and Martha Ann Lufkin had been present in these same halls and rooms doing temple work for our ancestors, and I felt a strong kinship to them.  I found this bit of history about a family history and temple experience of Martha Ann’s, as summarized by my aunt Dorothy D. Hall:

     “In 1884, when the Logan Temple was dedicated, my grandparents, George W. and Martha Ann Lufkin, were living in Salt Lake City.  After making several long, tiring trips to Logan to do temple work for their loved ones, they decided  in 1888, to move to Logan to be close to the Temple.
     “My grandmother especially, was an ardent genealogist and faithful temple worker. But, once when her day's work at the Temple was finished and she was on her way to the dressing-room to lay aside her white clothing and dress for the street, she felt very discouraged and depressed.  She wondered if what she was doing was of any worth.  Did those for whom she was proxy care what she was doing, did they even know of the long hours spent in their behalf?  Maybe it was all of no use.
     “As she walked down the corridor, dejected and alone, she glanced up and saw a woman coming toward her, smiling happily.  She nodded and Grandma nodded in return.  After taking a few more steps, Grandma realized that the woman was in street clothing instead of white as was usual and turning to look at her again, she saw that the corridor was empty.  Wondering at this strange and sudden disappearance, Grandma continued on her way.
     “Not long afterwards, while sorting through some old family pictures that had been received from the east, she picked up one which she immediately recognized as the woman in the Temple corridor.  And when she turned it over to read the name written on the back, she found to her amazement and joy, it was the name of the woman whose work she had done in the Temple the day she was so discouraged.  It was the woman who had smiled at her and whose picture she held in her hand.  So, she was answered, they did know and some of them did care.”
(Dorothy D. Hall, “Histories of Parents and Grandparents of Kate Naomi Lufkin Davenport,” 1986, p. 34)

Scott and I at Wood Badge

 

Scott and I finished our Wood Badge course this afternoon on a cloudy and rainy day.

Wood Badge training

Scott and I are half-way through a Wood Badge course at Camp Maple Dell in Payson canyon.  The first half was held this last Thursday through Saturday and the second half will be Thursday through Saturday of this coming week.  I have been serving in a lesser (but necessary) staff position, an Assistant Quartermaster.  Our responsibility is pretty much limited to food preparation.  There are five of us in the Quartermaster group.  We have 44 course participants and about 20 staff total to keep well-fed and happy.

I have viewed Wood Badge as a sort of graduate level education in youth leadership.  It has been very valuable to me in the whole range of Church and youth leadership assignments I have held over the years.  We worked hard in our Taylorsville Gardens Ward to encourage Wood Badge attendance, and when we had about 15 persons with this training it became a lot easier to run quality youth programs.  

My Wood Badge course was in 1989 at Camp Tracy in Millcreek Canyon and had a Varsity Scout specialty (which has since been discontinued).  I also attended a Wood Badge-like course for Exploring leaders that same year.

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Scott is one of the participants and it sure is fun to be in camp with him.  When he completes the training he will be the fifth member of our family with Wood Badge.  Others are Quin, Alison, and Matthew.

Here is more information about Wood Badge (Adapted from “Wood Badge” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia):
Wood Badge is an international  Scouting leadership training program for adult leaders. Wood Badge courses aim to make Scouters better leaders by teaching advanced leadership skills, and by creating a bond and commitment to the Scout movement. Courses generally have a combined classroom and practical outdoors-based phase followed by a Wood Badge ticket, also known as the project phase. By "working the ticket", participants put their newly gained experience into practice to attain ticket goals aiding the Scouting movement. The first Wood Badge training was organized by Francis "Skipper" Gidney and lectured at by Robert Baden-Powell and others at Gilwell Park (United Kingdom) in September 1919. Wood Badge training has since spread across the world with international variations.

On completion of the course, participants are awarded the Wood Badge beads to recognize significant achievement in leadership and direct service to young people and become members of Gilwell (or international Scouting) Troop 1. The pair of small wooden beads, one on each end of a leather thong (string), is worn around the neck as part of the Scout uniform. The beads are presented together with a taupe neckerchief bearing a tartan patch of the Maclaren clan, honoring William de Bois Maclaren, who donated the £7000 to purchase Gilwell Park in 1919 plus an additional £3000 for improvements to the house that was on the estate. The neckerchief with the braided leather woggle (neckerchief slide) denotes the membership of the 1st Gilwell Scout Group or Gilwell Troop 1. Recipients of the Wood Badge are known as Wood Badgers or Gilwellians.  It is estimated that international membership in this association is in excess of 100,000 persons.

More Temple Thoughts

The Givens, in their book “The Crucible of Doubt,” point out that, contrary to the norm promoted by our secular culture that the primary sources of truth are science and logic, much truth can be discerned from love.  Recent experiences related to the Payson temple seem to confirm this.

Our ward testimony meeting this morning exhibited some differences from usual, with a surge of young people and parents who have toured the Payson temple in the last few days, trying to express the wonder of their experience. 

For example, one of my favorite persons, Randy R. talked about not really feeling much of anything as he struggled to help contain two rambunctious pre-schoolers, as the line progressed from room to room.  Then suddenly he and his wife and all six of their children were together in the Celestial Room.  They stepped into a corner of the room and thought of the significance of this–that their entire family was together in the temple.  He was able to express a strongly felt hope that this pattern would continue both in this life and in eternity.

Another example was the Juan S. family (whom we home teach), where the dad expressed to Wendy after the meeting the overpowering sense of love he experienced with his family as they toured the temple.  Both of these dads had daughters, ages about 11 an 12, who gave their testimonies of what they experienced as they walk through the temple with their families, and who seemed moved to make personal commitments to make the temple a lifelong pursuit.

As our family members toured the temple on April 25th, one experience stood out to me.  Our part of the line stopped briefly in one of the spacious and beautiful sealing rooms, where an elderly couple spoke briefly of their love of the temple.  The reported of having a non-temple marriage, but at some time the wife had expressed her love to her husband her desire to be sealed to him and their grown children for eternity.  He decided to make this his goal also.  They reported with great emotion how he then knelt before her and formally proposed marrying her for eternity, to which she said "Yes."  They met with their bishop and began to prepare themselves for the temple.  At some point, they also called all of their 5 children and their spouses together and asked if they would like to be sealed to them.  Then the whole family worked together to go to the temple and be sealed together as a family.  I had tears come to my eyes as they expressed how the temple had enhanced their family and their love for each other.

So, what is the message of these feelings, in which love seems to dominate, especially love in families?  It seems to me to testify that we are built to form relationships, and that the love and joy and meaning that these relationships promote give hope and promise of enduring into eternity.

My birthday party

After touring the temple, the family came to our house for pizza.  While its not our requirement, most persons deposited their shoes by the front door.  I want to remember this huge pile of shoes, which was more than a foot high and three or four feet across.

Family Payson Temple tour

April 25, 2015

Payson temple progress

A lot of things have happened in the last several weeks regarding our service in the Payson Temple, when it opens the second week in June.  Let me document these things.

Early in March, Wendy got a call from Kelly W. (Temple Recorder, also counselor in the Blake’s Stake Presidency, also an acquaintance of mine from district scouting) to come to an appointment March 10. 

At the March 10th meeting, she was interviewed by Sister L. (Assistant to the Matron), and was called to be an ordinance worker. 

On March 12th, Brother W. again called on the phone asking her to serve as a Sisters Shift Coordinator for the Thursday midday shift.

Wendy attended three meetings for Shift Coordinators in March--the 15th, the 21st, and the 27th, all held chapels in Payson.  She received maps or floor plans and learned much about physical features of the temple, number of endowment rooms, initiatory booths, etc., and location of elevators, stairways, restrooms, etc., and also names of her assistants.

She was set apart as a temple worker by President S. on April 3rd at the Temple and had the opportunity to walk through the entire building for a couple of hours with her two assistant coordinators.

Sister R. (Assistant to the Matron) called Wendy on Wednesday, April 8th and invited her to be on a “small and select” committee that would help plan details of the procedures that would be followed in the Payson Temple.  Sister R. asked her to bring her husband, even though I had not yet been called and set apart.  Wendy explained my knowledge and experience in leadership roles in Provo Temple.

Wendy and I attended a meeting in the Temple of this small group of Coordinators on the afternoon of Friday, April 10th.   We arrived early and walked through much of the temple prior to the meeting start.  At the meeting we were in a group of 4 assigned to work on the second floor processes.  The second floor contains the chapel where patrons wait for endowments to start, the three endowment rooms, and the celestial room.  We received an introduction by President R. (Counselor to Pres. S.) and Brother W., then spent a long time walking though and talking through the processes for starting up and finishing an endowment session, and other functions and stations that are needed on that floor.  I finally volunteered to write up a draft of the things we had talked about after our group had discussed things as we walked through the entire floor.  We were in the temple for a total of over four hours.

I started writing on the process steps for the ordinance (2nd) floor of the temple, with help from Wendy.  I worked into the night and most of Saturday and also Sunday afternoon.

On Sunday night, April 12th at the SF Seminary, I was set apart as a Payson temple worker by President R..  In one of the tender mercies of that evening, we had a preliminary interview before the setting apart, with Sister S. (the temple Matron).  It turns out the she is one of the major movers as far as how the temple should operate.   As we visited with her, the conversation immediately turned to the work of the committee to describe temple procedure and process steps.  We had a wonderful 30 minute time that she extended to us, to ask and answer questions, to hear her philosophy and ideas and vision of how the temple should work.  I had received more clarity to my thinking, went home and started more revisions to the write-up I was drafting. 

On Monday, I called Brother S., the other brother on the committee, and went over and got feedback on several ideas we were working, the finished a revision of the write-up draft (it was nine pages long).  Also Wendy had scheduled time with the Sister R., the other sister on our sub-committee for later in the morning.  We went back to the temple and did more walking and talking and shared our draft with her and another sister coordinator who was working on First Floor procedures.  As another tender mercy, we also saw the Brother J., the man who was to receive our write-ups, as we finished working with Sister R., and got other clarifications and also a target date, this Friday, to give him some kind of product.

I took my laptop to the cabin Tuesday morning and kept working.  By evening I had an improved version ready.  Wendy and I drove over to The Homestead parking lot in the dark, where we could use their unprotected wi-fi and sent this version out to the other two on our sub-committee.  I continued to work on clarifications and to polish up the write-up to make it more presentable and readable.  After one more set of phone contacts, by mid-day today I believe we had a creditable work which could be more broadly shared.  We again utilized The Homestead’s generosity and sent out the new version.  It has 18 pages, including a table of contents and details about the new methods and roles for overseeing the chapel, loading the endowment room and starting and conducting the session, the veil process, and also the roles of sisters who will be stationed in the halls and the celestial room.  It has step-by-step process descriptions, detailed job descriptions for all workers functioning on this floor, and even a mock-up of a form.

This work over the last 6 days has been quite intense, but quite enjoyable,  to apply some skills I used extensively before I retired, both in the conceptualizing and writing such, but also working with people to get their ideas and their buy-ins.  And to do this in the service of temple work. Amazing!

We are so looking forward to touring the Payson Temple with family next weekend.

Ode to the Provo Temple

O Temple Provo, we leave thee
Filled with a thousand feelings--
For the masses of faithful Saints,
Entering thy door(1) with joy and quickened pulse(2)
Emerging through the shining lake-sun.
For our fellow laborers, left with double burdens
To cover our abandoned lines.
For dear Heber friends, our neighbors(3),
When will we see their sister sanctuary,
Shining brightly on the hillside by the river?
For young elders, supporting promises
With a resounding “Yes,”
And strengthening our commitments.
For young couples
Radiating love’s prospects.
For the words of life, God’s poetry,
Oft repeated, always fresh with glowing power.
For the spirits of the departed,
Rejoicing, encouraging,
Giving their approvals.

Thou cupcake with one candle,
Workhorse(4) among temples,
Born for efficiency not beauty(5),
But with a special majesty
To those many-millions,
Released from custody through thy ministrations.
Like Henry’s factory,
Every twenty minutes,
Churning out new liberty to the captives.
And like the duck on water(6),
Feet furiously flailing underneath,
Displaying peace and calm,
With nary a ripple to reveal the root of your locomotion.

You maverick,
Facing away from the East,
Where temples are thought to gaze(7)
But toward the missionaries(8),
Who fill thy rooms,
Becoming armed with power,
And making acquaintance of the angels,
Who will have charge over them,
As they bear great and glorious tidings
Unto the ends of the earth,
And toward the co-ed multitude(9),
That streams into thee in the dark of early morning,
And then emerges into the first dawn
With hope and glistening hair.

O Temple Provo,
What will now give meaning to our Thursdays?

     (1)As viewed from the recommend desk on afternoons
     (2)Its an uphill walk from parking
     (3)We have a vacation home in Midway.
     (4)Karen Ashton, Temple Matron and Robert Daines, Prior President
     (5)Hugh Nibley
     (6)President Larry Dahl
     (7)Hugh Nibley
     (8)MTC
     (9)At BYU and elsewhere

Temple service update

We were released, along with about 1500 others, as Provo temple workers on March 28th at 2 pm.  The time there was good to us.  I wrote a slightly silly Ode to the Provo Temple.  See it next.

I have an appointed to be set apart as a Payson temple worker next Sunday. 

Wendy has been called to be a women’s Shift Coordinator in the Payson temple, Thursdays, Shift 2 (about 10 am to 2 pm).  She has learned much about this temple in meetings the last several weeks-- schedules, procedures, layout, the new temple leadership.  She likes the new temple president a lot.

She had the opportunity yesterday to walk completely through the temple.  Very beautiful she says!