June 29, 1974 - Call to the Bishopric

Kirk James has brought his girlfriend, Holly Haskell, home for the summer. Their intent is to live with the family and see if they are suited for one another in marriage. They are both 27 years of age. Kirk is going to summer school at the U. of Washington. This means that he has exposed himself to Professors he doesn’t know. Holly is working to finish her Master’s degree in Spanish literature. She really should be close to her Prof at BYU.

            Kirk has told me that Holly can’t believe the relationship that we have. We are very open with one another and communicate our feelings openly. Perhaps we have found certain treasures of family life that others have not but I am so grateful for the trust I feel in our children and the manner in which it is reciprocated.

            I perceive by the Spirit, that after experiencing much tribulation, the blessings have come – D&C 58:3; 112:13 – perhaps we have even undergone an Abrahamic trial to some degree. It is evident that we are enjoying a relationship of love, respect, and joy that truly is a reflection of what eternal life will be like.

            As Alma’s prayers were answered regarding the conversion of his errant son, Alma (Mosiah 27:14), I know that God has answered our prayer for each individual in the family. May it continue to be so!! I long for us to be pure in heart and a true Zion people that as a family we will be recognized as the Lord’s people. How grateful I am for the charity and love and respect I feel for each member of this family. How grateful I am to my Father in Heaven for his guidance, His chastisement, His concern, His love for me personally that has brought all this about.

Call to the Bishopric – On Thursday evening, June 27th, Norma and I were called to the Stake President’s office concerning our call to the Bishopric. This is the first time in our church experience that we have been called together. An indication of things to come??

            What I write now I want to be a testimony that this call came from my Father in heaven and not from man. Bishop Fillery (sp?) was the intermediary but he waited for a long time to receive spiritual confirmation. I have always felt that Bishop Fillery is the epitome of Church leadership because he directs with humility and spirituality that is true and brings peace and confidence to those who work in his presence.

            I could feel the sincerity of the Stake Presidency and their concern in enlisting the Lord’s help for the 8th ward. How fortunate we are to have such men to care for us and direct the affairs of the Lord’s church in these last days. How reassuring to know that this train of authority goes all the way to the Lord Jesus Christ, Who’s church this is.

            Truly the Lord has sent me to school!! – as an Elder’s Quorom Pres, that I could learn to care about others and expand my life out of my self-centered medical life, as a Seventies President that I could come to understand and develop the missionary Spirit which in turn was enhanced by being called to a Stake Mission, as a Seminary teacher, that I could learn to care about the choice youth that are in our midst, that I could come to care for them as I care for my own children, a High Priest Group Leader, that I could become converted to geneaology work, but above all the privilege of coming to know the blessings of being a patriarch in my choice family. Because of some success in these areas I now wax strong in confidence in the presence of my Father in Heaven because He is concerned about my growth – may it ever be so. I pray humbly in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

June 9, 1974

Tonight I am in San Francisco to attend the American Orthopaedic Association meeting. The flight was magnificent. It is about the only time since the 1st of the year that we have had good flying weather. On every other trip a high percentage of the trip was spent in the clouds.

            The meeting is being held in the Fairmont Hotel. I am here alone without Norma. My room is costing $44/day. “Pop” is $1.10 per bottle, a steak sandwich - $8, a hamburger - $3.50. When the hotel gets you “locked in” when attending a convention they “gouge” unmercifully. Our government has brought this about by creating a tax structure that creates this type of financial manifestation. It is ridiculous!!!

            Doctors do need to communicate their experiences and consider new advance in Medicine and surgery but I can’t see the necessity to come to such a place to do so.

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.]

[No date provided] between May 9 and May 17, 1974

Using the Book of Mormon as a model I am recording thoughts, events, letters and incidents of spiritual significance to me and that I believe will strengthen the spiritual posture of my family.

            I wish to record an incident of great importance to me and the man whose picture appears on the proceeding page – Dr. Helaman Pratt Ferguson. He opened my understanding to new dimensions pertaining to administering to the sick through the power of the Priesthood.

            Br. & Sister Ferguson asked Norma and I to come to their home one Sunday evening after church. After a pleasant visit they informed us that their son was to have another surgery performed on his eyes. The youngster had had a prior operation and there was little medical hope because the boy was not able to “fuse” his visual objects in the brain. I was then asked to administer to young Helaman the next evening. I was grateful to be asked but fearful because of the responsibility and concern.

            After fasting and prayer the next evening I appeared at the Ferguson home to find 2 other close friends there. Again, we visited for some time, perhaps two hours. I must admit that I was becoming restless and irritated because I had arose at 5 AM to teach seminary the next morning and the time was now 10 PM. Br. Ferguson then asked us all to kneel in a prayer circle and each of us prayed individually, fervently, calling upon the Lord in “mighty prayer” to guide us in this administration, that His will be done.

            Br. Ferguson then brought his son from the bedroom to be administered to. He was asleep. In an administration that drained my physical strength a promise was pronounced upon this boy that he would be made “whole” again. A miracle was wrought and the boy was able to see normally. I will never forget in church one morning subsequently that young Helaman Ferguson looked at me and I knew that we knew one another by the Spirit in spite of our age difference.

            I learned that if it is possible that we should estrange ourselves from the world and enter into the Lord’s atmosphere of peace and with a broken and contrite heart and gentleness of soul when we understand to do great things in the Lord’s kingdom then we are ready to really know the Lord’s will. Also, the combined faith of faithful and virtuous saints creates a power of unbelievable dimensions.

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”. ]