In Memory of the Ogden High Flash

My Father in law died today.  He was 88 years old.  He was the consummate gentleman.  We referred to him as The Odgen High Flash because he played basketball in high school and though he wasn't very big, he was fast, thus, the nickname.  It kind of stuck, even though for the past 10 years, his body has been anything but kind to him, and the Ogden High Flash slowed down, way, way down.  After he passed, my brother in law stated; The Ogden High Flash is up and running again.  

Three weeks ago he went to get his physical and was given a clean bill of health.  Although his back hurt, his legs were deteriorating and his mind wasn't what it used to be, his vital organs were all great, and working well.  So, imagine our surprise when we came out of meetings on Thursday to a text saying he had been admitted to the hospital, he had pneumonia and sepsis and the dr's were saying it would be a matter of a few days before he was gone.  To illustrate our surprise, we thought gone meant, gone home from the hospital. What gone actually meant was gone home to heaven. They were spot on, and although we couldn't believe they were right, in the end, it turns out they have seen a case or two like this one.  He died peacefully in his sleep this morning at 7:25.  

I told my mother in law that my grieving has been a process, not this one event.  I have grieved for the past few years as I saw the father in law I love become a different person.  He was still gentle and kind, but he couldn't hear well, or remember things, and his body was always in pain and he couldn't get around much.  That wasn't the vibrant, fun, man I knew and loved.  So, as I grieve his passing, I smile as I remember the many wonderful times we spent with him, the lessons he taught, by example even more than by word, and the intense love he had for his wife and for his family.  

He was one of the last missionaries called to serve AFTER he was married.  He and my mother in law had been married a few short months when he was called to serve a mission in the North West.  He left his young bride and served faithfully for 2 1/2 years.  He set an example of consecration and putting the Lord first that seemed to stick with his family.  We are a missionary family, thanks to his example. 

As a senior couple, he and Darlene served in the New York, New York South Mission.  We were blessed to go and visit them.  One story that I love from that trip is another example of consecration.  They had told us they had room for 2 of our kids to stay with them and the rest of us got a hotel room. We got to our hotel and it wan't that nice and so a few of our kids quickly volunteered to stay with grandma and grandpa. They were remembering their lovely home they left behind in Provo and thought they had hit the jackpot, by being the first to dibs staying at grandma and grandpa's house.  When we got to their small apartment, it was worse than our hotel.  Our kids couldn't believe their grandparents were happily living in such a place, but what a great example that was to all of us, to leave family and the comforts of a beautiful home to serve and live where they were called.  

                              The day before they left on their mission to New York

Speaking of trips, we were able to go on so many fun, family trips with the Hymas family.  We took three wonderful vacations with the Hymas adults. We went to Hawaii, on a cruise to the Caribbean and a cruise up the St Lawrence River and New England.  We made memories to last a lifetime and beyond.  

As we were talking to my mother in law tonight, she was saying how blessed she is to have such a wonderful family, who have rallied around them during this time.  All of the grandchildren who live anywhere close were able to visit and say their goodbyes, and those who weren't close enough made phone calls and sent love from a far.  Most of them (besides us, because we learned the lesson of consecrated service well) are traveling from far and near to be there for the funeral.  When she acted amazed about this, I told her, it was because they learned from the two of them.  Stacie was saying today as she was looking through pictures that every life event of hers, includes pictures of grandma and grandpa there supporting her, as they did with all of us.  They came to everything and supported us in all we did.  I remember when Ethan was a senior, playing in the State Tennis tournament, it was extremely difficult for Merrill to get around, every step was excruciating, yet, here they came to Liberty Park to watch Ethan play tennis.  They set the example of love and support and exemplify the adage, 'you reap what you sow'. 

Merrill got me my first grown up job, at First Interstate Bank, after Scott and I got engaged.  He taught me how to park on a side street.  He used to take his daughter and daughters in law to the Sundance Theater every summer for the rotary daddy daughter night.  He taught the boys the joy of a good massage session. 

Merrill and Darlene were born in the same hospital, two days apart.  They met for the second time in the 8th grade and were inseparable from the time she winked at him in a class they had together.  They loved everything BYU, especially football and basketball, and they did everything together.  Where one went, the other was sure to be. 

This is my all time favorite picture of the two of them, celebrating their combined birthdays.  If you knew him, you knew he didn't let anyone touch or mess up his hair, (he was always impeccably groomed) so it was a big deal for him to let the waitress put on the giant birthday hat.  

Merrill treated Darlene like a queen, and I remember telling him once that I knew I wanted to marry Scott after seeing how his dad treated his mom.  I knew that a son raised in that kind of a home, with that kind of a father, would be the perfect husband for me.  And he is.  

We said our 'see ya laters' in June, this was the last time we saw him in this lifetime

We were shedding a few tears today and I told my family that if I can live to be 88, and have a family that adores me and who all keep their covenants, then I will know it was a life well lived.  William Merrill Hymas lived such a life.  We will miss him, but are grateful for the great plan of happiness, and a Savior who provided a way for us to live as families again.  I know he lives today because of our Savior Jesus Christ, and I know we will see him again.  My only regret is that I can't peek into heaven and get a glimpse of the Ogden High Flash running again.  

Sacramento This Week

After our crazy transfer/mission tour week, we thought this week was going to be super quiet.  It was somewhat more relaxed than the prior week, but we are finding life moves at a very fast pace on the mission and we still had plenty of things to keep us busy this week.  

We are very focused on obedience and the missionary purpose in our mission, but we also want to find joy in the journey.  Missionary work is a joyful work and we tell our missionaries if they aren't having fun, they aren't doing it right.  In an effort to have a little fun with our missionaries we are doing some combined zone activities on p days at our home this transfer.  Our first one was last Monday and we had the Sacramento and East Sacramento Zones come up to our home.  We set up some yard games outside, but only a few decided to face the heat to play outside.  Most of them congregated upstairs and had a ping pong tournament, and some heated giant jenga games.  We had lunch and then went back up to play a rousing game of 'Do you love your neighbor?' followed by some gummy bear races.  This is a Child Family staple from many years ago at Sun Valley.  We give them 2 andes mints, 2 gummy bears, and 2 paper clips, and as much tape as they want.  As a companionship, they make a sled for the gummy bears and then we raced them down a church table.  Elder Stewart and Elder Evans were the championship companionship.  I told Elder Stewart he may have found his calling in life to become an engineer of bobsleds after the mission.  We love the time we have to spend with our missionaries, working hard, and, when appropriate, playing hard.  We get to do this again tomorrow with Carmichael and Elk Grove.  

 

Hard at work on some gummy bear sleds

                                                         The champions: Elder Stewart and Elder Evans, on the right

On Tuesday we had some meetings with the missionaries who will be going home at the end of this transfer, to bouy them up, keep them motivated and keep them looking for miracles until the very end. We had a meeting with our new mission leaders, and with our office staff.  Scott had a presidency meeting that night and so I took the opportunity to go to a Bible Study Class that some amazing members have started up in the El Dorado Stake.  Elder and Sister Gomm are amazing and I loved the opportunity to be able to be part of a scripture class again.  They started this class and it has grown into a church service mission.  They have cards they pass out with their number to call if anyone wants a free bible, and it has turned into an amazing missionary tool.  They have had several baptisms due to this class and that card.  I am utterly impressed when good people listen to and act on promptings of the spirit.  When that happens it leads to miracles, and blesses many lives in the process.  

On Wednesday, I was able to shed my tracking anklet, so to speak, and leave the mission for a day.  We got a sister in our last transfer who is here until she can get to Korea, where she has been assigned.  She was born in the U.S. but her parents are both Korean.  Her visa to Korea was denied because she is eligible for dual citizenship and needed a Korean passport. She found that out too late to work on it before she entered the MTC, so she needed to go to San Francisco to apply for her Korean passport at the Korean Consulate.  Our mission secretary, Sister Stohl and I volunteered to take Sister Na for the day into SF.  Our GPS took us into the city via the Oakland Bay Bridge, and out via the Golden Gate Bridge, and so, as I told Sister Na, she got a drive through tour of San Francisco.  It was weird to be in a place where we have vacationed so often, but not to be on vacation.  It reminded me of our old life, which was a very good life.  But I was also so grateful to get back to Sacramento and my new life.  I felt like I was coming home as we drove into our mission boundaries.  Of course, we were in San Francisco at lunch time so we had to take advantage of that and get some Clam chowder and a Crab Louis.  

It is also interview week again.  This week and last week, so I have been baking cookies.  They are all so happy when they just get a home made cookie, I can't resist baking for them.  Scott interviewed one zone during District Meetings and so I got to attend the meetings.  This zone had 3 districts so I was able to attend 30 minutes of each district's meeting.  I was so impressed with the leadership and the teaching of these wonderful district leaders.  I have been around the zone leaders in their official responsibilities more than I have the district leaders, and wow, they are amazing.  I guess I should stop being wowed every time I am around these Elders and Sisters, because it happens often.  But I hope I never stop being taught and blessed by these wonderful missionaries.  

We spoke in another Spanish Ward this morning.  The Del Norte ward.  I struggled through my few Spanish lines and then bore my testimony with the help of a translator.  Scott, on the other hand, stood up and spoke like he hadn't had a 30 year break in his Spanish.  The ward was small, probably only about 40 people there, but there was such a special spirit there.  I love those faithful Latin Saints.  

And I had to post another picture of food, not that all we do is eat out here, but I had to take a picture of our date night on Friday to the gourmet hot dog place down the street, The Ruffhaus.  Pretty tasty! 

                                                                Date night selfie
We finally got to go on a temple tour.  They do temple tours every Saturday night at the Mormon Center and the temple.  So many of our missionaries take investigators on the tour and when they can get them there, it always helps them feel the spirit.  We were happy to be able to go on Saturday night and to run into 4 sets of our missionaries who were there with investigators.  It was a great way to spend a Saturday night.  

And, finally, a random picture of one of the bunnies that lives in our front yard.  I have no idea what they eat, or how they sustain themselves, but it is fun every time we walk out in the front yard, we are greeted by this little guy and usually several of his friends.  

Until next week, thank you to all who love and support and pray for us and our missionaries. We love you all and are so grateful for all of you in our lives.  

Our First Mission Tour

This has been a very eventful week.  Since last Saturday we have been to the airport 8 times, Sent off 21 missionaries, welcomed 25 new ones, trained them, sent Ethan and Preston back to Utah to start BYU and had our first mission tour with Elder and Sister Hugo Martinez of the Quorum of the Seventy.  Life moves at a fast pace in the mission field.  

After getting our 25 missionaries in, matching them with their new trainers and getting them to their areas on Monday, we tried to save Tuesday as much as we could for Ethan and Preston.  We were able to spend some time with them Kayaking at a lake near our home in the afternoon and we had a nice relaxing dinner out with them that evening.  I have to admit, I shed quite a few tears over them leaving.  We have had so much fun having them here with us this summer.  I know it was kind of a sacrifice for them to spend their entire summer out here with us, when their friends were all back in Utah.  There were days where they were pretty bored, but we couldn't have been more grateful to have them here.  They made our transition to mission life so much easier and so much more fun that is might have been.  There were many ping pong games played, Preston was the only one who knew how to heat up the pool and the hot tub,  we tried to have a rousing game of Liverpool just about every night.  They are about the only ones who can loosen Scott up and relieve his stress and you might imagine, there is a bit of stress that goes along with this calling.  They went out with our missionaries and the missionaries loved that, and they loved them.  They provided invaluable advice and ideas since they have been on a mission more recently than Scott.  They helped us understand all of the meetings, rules, etc. I think they were able to have some fun out here as well.  What a gift to us it was to have them here with us this summer, it is one I will treasure forever.  We miss them already, but they are coming back for General Conference so that makes me very happy. 

 

On Wednesday morning we had our new missionary training meeting.  Can I just say again how much I love our senior couples.  They provided lunch for all of the new missionaries and their trainers, along with all who helped train. They had already done brunch for the new ones on Monday and were providing lunch for MLC on Thursday, but on Wednesday they probably fed 65-70 people.  It was unusually large, but they pulled it off beautifully.  I am SO grateful for them.  

As soon as the training was over, Scott and I headed to the airport to pick up Elder and Sister Martinez.  They could not have been more delightful.  We were a little nervous about our first mission tour and we were so blessed to have the Martinezes be our first experience.  I'm sure everyone would have been great, but they were so gracious and kind and funny and made our experience so wonderful.  They kept telling us they were only here to help us and they would do whatever we wanted them to do, and to take or leave any advice they had for us, because it is our mission and they were here to serve us.  They are wonderful people.  

We picked them up and stopped by the office so they could meet our office couples and we had a nice visit with all of them.  Then we brought them to our home, had dinner and were able to just talk with them for a few hours.  On Thursday we started bright and early with our MLC meeting at our home, Elder Martinez interviewed 7 of our missionaries following the meeting, we had dinner and then we all went out teaching with the missionaries.  

Elder and Sister Martinez went with Hermana Clark and Hermana Smith.  It warmed our hearts to see Hermana Clark, who has been here since March, and Hermana Smith, who came in our first transfer, so barely 6 weeks, be confident enough to go teaching, in Spanish, with a member of the Quorum of the Seventy, whose first language is Spanish.  I was so proud of them, and Elder and Sister Martinez were so impressed with these sweet sisters.  

                       Hermana Smith and Hermana Clark with Sister and Elder Martinez

Scott and I went out with Elder Toki and Elder Nelson.  It was a wonderful experience and we experienced real life missionary work. We went to their first lesson, and the people weren't home.  They had had another lesson scheduled and those people cancelled because they were sick. Instead of being discouraged, with their mission president and his wife tagging along, they had an alternate plan. We headed to another home, of a less active, and we think they were home, but they didn't answer the door.  We kept saying, 'this is a good experience for us to really see what happens on a daily basis with our missionaries.'  We were walking down the sidewalk, talking to them and in the middle of a sentence they said "hang on, we need to go place a Book of Mormon."  There was a park across the street from the house and there was a white van in the parking lot.  I hadn't even noticed it, but as soon as they saw it, they bolted across the street and started sticking their head in the passenger side window, talking to the man inside.  We weren't close enough to hear what they were saying, but they were animated and after about 5 minutes they came back, having placed a Book of Mormon, gotten his contact information and picked up a potential investigator.  It was the best thing ever to witness.  It made me so happy to be around incredible missionaries like them.  We had to leave after that to go pick up the Martinezes, but as we drove away, they had walked into a garage and were talking to some people who were in there cleaning their garage.  It was a wonderful night.  

                                     Elder Nelson and Elder Toki car contacting!

On Friday we held two condensed zone conferences.  One at 9:00 with half of the mission, and the other one at 1:00 with the other half of the mission.  They were wonderful and there was such a great spirit at those meetings.  The missionaries loved being taught by Elder and Sister Martinez.  It was a pretty tight schedule.  We finished the first meeting at 12:15 and had to get to the next building by 1.  We are blessed to have such awesome members here and for zone conferences the Stakes provide lunch for us.  We have a wonderful couple, The Astles, who arrange with the Stakes and arrange the buildings, keep track of who is gluten free, etc.  They completely take the whole thing off my shoulders and we just show up and get fed.  I can't even express how grateful I am for everyone who helps us.  From our mission couples, to the local couples called to help, to all of the members who are always so gracious and helpful.  We feel extremely blessed.  Since our time was so tight, we asked if they could just do some sack lunches that we and the missionaries could just take with us.  The first Stake had the activity day girls in the stake decorate the lunch sacks for the missionaries.  It was adorable and was such a gesture of love for the missionaries and going the extra mile.  

At the second zone conference I saw something on the sacks as well, but I didn't get a chance to grab or look at one because we were running out the door to get the Martinezes to the airport in time for their flight.  I wish I had because I saw they had gone the extra mile as well, I just didn't get a chance to see what it was.  How grateful we are for the wonderful members in this area.  We love them. 

                 Elder and Sister Martinez

                           Our Assistants, Elder Murphy, Elder Pennington and Elder Watts

All of the above, and our office assistants, Elder Ludlow and Elder Duncan.  These five keep us and the mission going.  

 East Sacramento Zone

 Cordova Zone

 Sacramento Zone

 Elk Grove Zone

 North Sacramento Zone

 Carmichael Zone

 Folsom Zone

El Dorado Zone