January 1986

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An unusual New Year’s party.  At Bob Hamm’s suggestion, we “surprised” Duncan and Carol by plaster boarding their upstairs.  Kirk James had come to Seattle for business and was able to join us.

Duncan has just come home from work taken a shower, and prepared for a peaceful New Year’s Eve.  He “looked” disappointed when we appeared on the scene and put him to work.  At midnite he was most pleased to see all the work done.

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Jan 4, 1986 – Picture of Bishop Kirk J Anderson, Holly, and Kirk Jared Anderson on day of baptism.  Norma and I made one of the most treacherous trips of all time from Seattle to Boise to attend.  We travelled by car and we encountered snow – ice – and fog which plagued us the entire trip.  Surely, this would indicate how important it has always been to us to attend major events (church, school athletic) in the lives of our children and grandchildren.

Jan 5, 1986.

Today I stood in the circle as Kirk Jared was confirmed by his father.  Also present was Eric Leland Anderson and the Bishopric.

I recorded the confirmation & blessing and wrote it out for Kirk Jared’s book of Remembrance.  It was Fast Sunday and it was a special meeting.  Bishop Kirk James Anderson gave a wonderful testimony & spoke of his gratitude for his heritage.  Kirk Jared’s other grandfather – Eldon Haskell gave a marvelous testimony.  I wanted to, but there just wasn’t time.

In the High Priest meeting, the time was devoted to testimony.  This time I was able to say a few things.  I pleaded with the brethren to pray for their Bishop – my son – that in todays world more than any other time our Bishops are on the firing line more than ever before.  When I finished I don’t believe that there was a dry eye in the room.  Several of the brethren said that their sons would not now be on missions were it not for their Bishop – my son.

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Jan. 7, 1986.  A visit with my sister Ruth, her daughter Laura Lee, and granddaughter.

I am trying diligently to get things worked out so that we can get Ruth to the Temple to be sealed to Dad & Mother before we go on our mission.

Jan. 9, 1986

Today Eric and I sojourned to Nyssa to see Jim, Peggy, and Warren Farmer.  They have established an onion processing plant and have done a wonderful job.  They are truly enterprising and we are very proud of them.  They have undertaken a large debt – load to do this, but I am sure they will succeed unfortunately, the onion crop did not fare well this year and the price is very low.

Jim is now in the Elder’s Quorum Pres. & recently baptized his youngest son.

Warren was just [reunited] to a high school sweetheart.  She is very fine woman, and Warren should be much happier.  He has been very lonely.

Insert: Christmas card (from Carol Biddle)

Dear Mom and Dad,

I’m sitting here with a guiet moment at Jane and Bobs what a year.  Dads retiring – you could be in Europe in the next few months.  WHAT WILL I DO?!

I hope you can use and enjoy this xmas gift.  We love you both so much.  You’re a constant support (that means more than materially).

With all our love from both Carol and Duncan and Jane and Bob

Insert: Christmas card & envelope from 

Elder Eric Jacobsen 

Monte Caucaso 1110 

Lomas De Chapultepec

Mexico D.F. 11000

Mexico

Dearest Andersons,

I just wanted to let you know I was thinking about you this Christmas even though it’s arriving a little late.

You’re such good people and such good examples to me.  May the Lord bless you for your goodness.

With Love, Elder Eric Jacobsen

Insert: article “Truth – and More” by Elder Russell M. Nelson; The Ensign / January 1986

Insert: letter (from ? – can’t read signature)

28 January 1986

Kirk J Anderson

SEATTLE

My dear friend Kirk:

Jolene and I appreciated very much your coming to our home last night.  We both value our friendship with you and Norma more than words can express.

I just want you to know that having the Power of The Priesthood brought to bear in my behalf is a privilege which we esteem very highly.  We both feel very good about going ahead to get the solution to my medical problem, and have confidence the Lord has a purpose this particular challenge in our lives.  We have always been blessed beyond our understanding with good health and membership in His Church.  With all of these blessings a person can’t really ask for any more.  In fact it makes me realize that there is much more that I can do to repay the Lord and my friends for the many kindnesses extended to me.

Thanks again for your concern, prayers, and help.  Please extend my love to the Quorum for their fasting and prayers at this time.  With that kind of concerted afforded from such a great group of men there is no doubt that all will be well.

Love,

(Signature?)

A letter from Mark Perry...

A letter from Mark Perry--one of my seminary students I was associated with who has now become a full time missionary in Germany. What a wonderful period of harvest this is now for me for the years of seminary teaching I put in--my students have become as spiritual sons and daughters to me.

Dear Brother Anderson and Family!

I received your letter last week and I wish to thank you for it, also for the contribution, it helped a lot! I am so grateful for the influence that people like you have had in my life. Bro. Anderson, as I look back I will never forget those years I spent in seminary with you; I learned so much and often the things I learned have caused reflection of my real purpose in life. If I can only learn to radiate the things I have learned so that others can learn from me, my purpose is partly fulfilled. We need more people like you all in the church and that's one of the reasons that I am over here, to help find them! The work is going fantastic over here right now! We are in the middle of a mission fast right now to help improve the mission spiritually and I know as we do this, and as you back home continue to pray for our success, we will continue to bring people to the Lord's true church! May the Lord bless you during this beautiful Christmas season and always.

Love, Elder Mark Perry

August 21, 1974 – more info needed

Today another spiritual occasion in our family prompts me to write of its nature. It is a sequel and another manifestation of that which I recorded on page 56 (*** add entry date as p. #'s will be lost***). This morning after breakfast, Carol, Jane, Chris and myself were reading the scriptures in front of the fire – each of us reading in silence and in our own way. Then Norma suggested that she wanted to play for us a tape from Br. Richard Cown (BYU) on the Doctrine and Covenants. 15 of us then gathered together to earnestly learn together. How can I ever thank the Lord enough for this rich blessing and spiritual atmosphere of learning that our family enjoys. He is truly leading us by the hand. My confidence waxes strong in giving blessings and using the power of the priesthood in our home because I know that as long as we are righteous our prayers will be answered as they have in the past.

PG 107 [No Date Provided] – This letter is a sequel to my notes on page 98 (see Aug. 12th entry regarding his visit with his father). I wrote to Pres. Ezra Taft Benson and told him how much his gesture of friendship to my father meant to our family and to the generations to come. I also told him how I sustain him as an Apostle of the Lord because I have a testimony of what and who he really is.

[The letter is dated Sept 3, 1974 and reads:]

            Dear Dr. Anderson:

            For your very thoughtful and generous letter of August 12, I am deeply grateful. It was a real joy and inspiration to see your father at the funeral of Aunt Carmen. It called to mind many memories, all of them pleasant, of my association with your father and mother, and you and your brother as boys of the Aaronic Priesthood. I have no doubt that your father is might proud of you.

            God bless you in all the days to come. Thank you so much for sending the letter. It gave a great uplift to Sister Benson and me.

            With prayerful wishes for your welfare.

            Faithfully your friend and brother,

                        Signed Ezra Taft Benson

May 17, 1974

On the opposite page is a letter we have just received from Jane. She is currently on a survival course as a part of her BYU Sociology Course. What she wrote attests that when we withdraw from “worldly ways” and the carnal appetite way of life that our communion with God is much more likely. Jane is such a choice spirit, a tremendous strength to our family. When she returns home from this trip she will then go to N.Y. to participate in the “Hill Cumorah Pageant”. I’m so grateful that she is able to partake of so many wonderful blessings at this time in her life. [Letter enclosed from Jane talking about her experience. She reports that she hikes about 15-20 miles a day, but that they don’t hike every day. She talks about being very cold at night and that they eat and drink very little when they are out for two days at a time. She talks about a “jackrabbit stew” that they made one night.]

May 9, 1974

Kirk James has completed his studies and now has time to spend before his final exams. Eric and I therefore flew to Salt Lake on Friday evening to bring him to Seattle. It was a joyful and fun time for all of us. We thoroughly enjoyed each other and the weather was great.

            Kirk talked to his mother and me about bringing Holly (his girlfriend) to Seattle for the summer. He felt that it would be good for Holly and himself to spend the summer in the environment of our family life. I am thrilled and grateful that he would contemplate this. I think they are contemplating marriage and Kirk wants Holly to experience and see the type of family life we are now enjoying. How can I ever thank my Father in heaven enough for allowing me to capture the essence of true family life as He has intended it to be for His children here on earth.

            It now appears that Leland and Shirli desire to stay here in Seattle. I know that this will be a disappointment to both of their parents but on the other hand I feel that it will expand the Spirit of family unity to a greater number of people in our family. Oh! – How I long to have us maintain this wonderful blessing and build upon it. I truly believe that if we continue this way we will be capable of living the law of consecration without difficulty. My heart yearns for us to be involved in a family business of some type. I wonder if the Lord is directing me by the Spirit to constantly contemplate such an endeavor. It will come to pass if this is the Lord’s will for us and if we obey his commandments.

[Multiple letters enclosed from Evelyn Schwiermann, Tim Walker, Bob Backstein, and Ted Ferrenburg (sp?). Kirk notes, about these letters that they are “meaningful and pertinent to my life”. ]

April 27, 1974 Letter from Kirk James to Carol

On the opposite page is a letter of great importance to our family in which Kirk James writes to Carol on her 17th birthday and gives her counsel about what is most important in life. I am proud of Kirk because he has come through a very difficult year in law school being taught Priestcraft – or the precepts of men – and he remains strong in his testimony – what he has to say to all of us will have a great impact on all members of our family.

[Enclosed is a letter from Kirk James to Carol. The following is highlighted within the letter: “The most important thing you can do right now is to learn as much as you can about the Church and the scriptures and what they really mean. There really is a purpose to this life which very few people understand. Once you understand that purpose then you can feel secure. As I look around at all the so-called “great men” in the law school I realize how insecure they are. They have concentrated so much of their efforts in the direction of the law that they don’t know how to cope with life and people and their families. So as I look at you, Jane, Tom, John and Rick I see so much wisdom that those men will never have. Sure they know a lot because they’ve studied a lot, but they aren’t wise. So really, in a sense you’re a lot more grown up and mature than they are and ever will be. So don’t worry so much about what you’ll do in terms of a profession. Try and learn who you are and prepare yourself for a family, etc. If you do that the Lord just won’t let you down and you’ll be happy.” Additional highlights include Kirk James noting that the price of stamps had gone from 8 cents to 10 cents and stating that he had “tried to cut my letter writing down to a minimum.”]

March 23, 1974 - I need to go back and finish this

I have encouraged all members of our family to learn to “reveal themselves”, that they might free themselves of suppressed thoughts and feelings that canker the soul. Moreover, that we might learn to know one another intimately and learn to mourn together and share joy with one another.

            With permission of my son Kirk and my nephew Leland I am enclosing personal letter they have written in which they have done this very thing during difficult periods in their lives. I pray that we might learn from them and their example might be used to strengthen and sustain the needs of others when their words are read. 

[Letter enclosed from Kirk James: “ Dear Mom & Dad, I’ve wanted to write this for a long time, but ever since school got out I haven’t been in the mood. So I waited for the right feeling. I just want to tell you who I am, how I am, and what I’m doing. It may not amount to much but I’ll try and convey my feelings as they happen.

            I’m not sure where to start. I remember just before I went on my mission I told you all the “fun” I’d had and about all of the mistakes I’d made. It must’ve been painful. Hopefully this will be more pleasant.

            I may as well start with marriage. I sense you’re wondering whether I’ll ever make it. I’m not neuter! I’m a male and I look forward to marriage. But I know that I’m not searching real hard – probably because I’m still shy in beginning new relationships. I refuse to talk myself into a relationship that should last an eternity. Maybe I’m scared or looking for the perfect mate. I’m not sure, but when it happens, it’ll happen and I’ll be able to handle it.

            I do know that I wasn’t ready until this summer. I’ve had a lot of growing up to do in the two years I’ve been home from my mission. I think I grew up a lot spiritually. I realized that when I got home I set goals for myself that had only to do with me. This was mostly because I wanted to keep things as they were before. But I left other people out more than I should have. I stopped worrying about a growing testimony, I felt I was strong enough. Anyway, I’m glad I realized this when I did.

            I’m sorry now I didn’t work both summers after I got home. I’m concerned about the easy life I’ve had and my real feelings about wealth. I hope I can give it all up when the time comes or even accept a lower economic status by following my call – whatever that is. You’ve got to remember that when I went on a mission I didn’t have a testimony. You and I both know it. I faked it by working hard for a long time out there. And by the time 15 months had gone by I first woke up to what the church was all about. So I come home with many of the same problems I had before I left. My mission only opened my mind to where my weaknesses were.

            I know I’ll overcome them. I’m terrifically satisfied with myself although I know I’m not perfect. I’m happy about everything! One thing I hope for is that. I’ll never get to old to learn and change. I hope at 65 I can look at myself as I do now and say “Whoops! You’ve blown it.” This is repentance. Too many people are afraid to really become critics of their own lives. I think they feel that by doing so they’ll discover they’re something they’re not. That’s uncomfortable. It’s insecure. But I’m not afraid to face this ordeal of change. I’ve got to keep changing and transcending myself or I’ll not be living – just existing. I hope to look at life eternally. Sometimes I don’t like to give up the good things. I’ll overcome it if I have to (there’s nothing wrong with the good things. The problem is lamenting them when they’re not there.). But I do know that when it’s all over the only thing we’ll be able to account for will be our experiences with other people. This has to be my life. I want my life to be guided by me. I love life with all its trials and tribulations. I’m happy, I’m at peace. I’m creating.

            I want to win. I know that by overcoming myself I’ll be able to help others. I know I have the gift but I can expand it (magnify my priesthood) by obviating my faults. I don’t lament the past anymore. I think I’ve really gotten a grip on procrastination. I’m trying not to be so cynical towards people.

            I know I make mistakes. Looking back I could have graduated in August had I done it right. Or in January, had I not decided to work at the LTM. But I did so that’s that. I’m thankful for the LTM. I’m thankful for my mind. I’ve got to be honest to it. But my mind could be wrong so I’ve got to learn and change it if need be. I’m obsessed with learning. I want to know what forces are trying to shape my life, now. There’s too much to know. I’ve just started living in the past two years. I’ll never stop.

            A big decision is facing me now which concerns me. I’ve got to decide what to do with my life. I want to teach but I’m afraid of what I’ll do when I get there. Once I get inside the educational system, I’d probably expose it. A law degree would mean security. I don’t’ want to be a lawyer. I want to have time to read, write, learn, study, be a friend, father, husband. I don’t want to kill myself working for money and status. I’m probably stupid for wanting to go to law school – if I lost a job as a teacher I could support myself somehow – writing perhaps. But it’s not secure is it? I hope I have the guts to follow my call. I feel pretty good. I’m growing. I’m not afraid to read Buckley or Mao, Rayn or Keynes. I’ve go to. Not one of them has been ordained of God any more than the next. Unreality is the source of powerlessness. If we believe in free (p. 4 got tired of typing this)]