Thoughts and stories, by Pal

I WANT TO BEGIN WITH A QUOTE I REALLY AGREE WITH! Pres. Thomas S. Monson (quote below) Don’t be afraid to walk out of a movie, turn off a television set, or change the radio station if what’s being presented does not meet your Heavenly Father’s standards. In short, if you have any question about whether a particular movie, book, or other form of entertainment is appropriate, don’t see it, don’t read it, don’t participate.  (This isn't about the following story ------  Just WISDOM! ) An interesting situation with Wayne's father Roy 's family .  We told about him and his parents and grandparents in yesterday's blog.  John Emanuel Wengren Eckman and his wife Margaret Turnquist, Roy's parents, came from Sweden with one child.  They had a second child in Sweden who died at about 2 months old, and she had a child shortly after they came to Utah.  That child lived only 6 days, possibly to the difficult trip they had coming to Utah.  Lat...

    Tonight I'll tell interesting things about my husband Wayne D Eckman's father, and his ancestors from Sweden.   Wayne wrote, in the book about his ancestors:  (Pages 39, and on to 48)    I want to acknowledge my gratitude to our wonderful missionary system and to the missionaries who visited Sweden in the year 1880, C.P. Larsson and Elder Gillan, both of Murray, Utah, who preached the gospel to our forebears and converted them. Those were my father Roy Waldamer Eckman's parents, John Emanuel Wengreen Eckman and Margaret Christine Turnquist, and Roy's grandparents, Johan and Anna Gretha Wengreen, and Erik and Carolina Soderbom Turnquist.    Roy's father’s 3 sisters and 2 brothers and his mother’s only sister were all baptized and emigrated to Utah, some in 1881 and others in 1883. Grandfather Johan Emanuel Wengreen Eckman was born in Tierp, Sweden, August 15, 1836. He was Roy's grandfather, and left Sweden in 1881 with his 2 sons, Willia...

I believe tonight, I'll just say a few personal things.  At times I probably will tell some about our life today.  My husband Wayne is a Temple Ordinance worker, and he has already gone to bed to be able to get up, Monday morning, at 4:45 a.m., to get ready to be at the Temple at 6:00 a.m.  He stays until the 11:20 session is done, usually about 1:30 p.m.  I usually try to go to an ordinance session on Monday morning, as I want to go at least once a week.  I've heard there is a second new Temple film, and I'm excited to go.  I love the Temple, and remember a wonderful blessing I got over 60 years ago, from Brother George E. Miles, a Patriarch, for whom I typed blessings when I was around 18 to 20 years old.  (What a blessing that was to me!)  His wife had died, and in those days, the Patriarch spoke slowly and it was written down by hand.  He always kept his train of thought, and never asked to have anything read back to him. In that blessi...

 This photo was taken on my mother Ruth's 80th birthday celebration.  From left to right, Vina, her son Curtis, Bud's mother "Bain", and Ruth, our mother.  All have passed on but Vina.  (1988)  Mavis on the left, Mom, (Ruth) 9 years older than the above picture, me (Pal,) and Vina. (1997) Mother was then in Porter's Care Center.  She lived a year and 9 months longer after this time.                     Three sisters, about 2012, Vina, left, Mavis, center, amd me, Pal right. Wayne, acting up at a 4th of July celebration in Menan, Idaho, when visiting with Allen, about 2010. A fun picture!  On the right is Anita, about age 15, at a Young Women's activity in Sandy, 1970's.  This picture was taken at a family reunion with the three sisters and families, Mom Miles (Ruth) in the back. I'm holding Angie, when she was a baby.  Can you recognize others?  Some I can't! ...

I wrote about my 2nd great grandmother, Caroline Farozine Skeen yesterday.  I decided the rest of her story would be good to include now, so you can get a fuller picture of her life.  This entry may be a bit longer than others --  She was born April 15, 1812, in  Tennessee,  the seventh child in a family of ten children.  On February 3, 1831, at the age of 19 she was married to John Lowe Butler.  To them 12 children were born.   Most of their leisure time was spent in reading the Bible, but the religions of the day did not satisfy them.  According to John's diary, he was literally thirsting of a knowledge of his Creator.  He had prayed many times, very earnestly for light, until he became rather discouraged.  (I'll tell more of him later.)  A s an answer to their prayers, o ne evening in 1835, an invitation came to attend a cottage meeting given by two Mormon Elders.  The message filled their hearts with joy and after ...

My great great grandmother on my mother's side, Caroline Farozine Skeen, the wife of John Lowe Butler, was an amazing woman herself.  She had to run their farm and take care of the children many times when her husband John was gone with the Prophet Joseph Smith.  I'll post several different stories of her in the future, as her life is very inspirational.                     The Story of Grandmother Squaw               (on page 185-186 in the book of Pal's ancestors) After the Prophet was killed and the saints were moving West, John left with his family in Emmett’s Company.  (Remember John Lowe Butler was the Prophet's bodyguard, see post # 66, and he also is mentioned in post # 26)    John was a wheelright and blacksmith, and after helping to fix other wagons, they were rather late in starting west.  Winter overtook them when they were in the heart of the Indian Co...

I very recently read a comment from a woman in Dear Abby, in our local paper.  She wrote: You said in your Nov. 14 column on bullying that you hadn't received a single letter from anyone who had bullied others.  Well I was a bully.   As a young girl I'd tease and taunt, and when I was older, I used sarcasm as a way to bully.   I was involved in an abusive relationship in my 20s.  With support and counseling, I was able to stop being abused and being abusive. I learned the feelings I had repressed -- shame, fear and low self-worth from a childhood of abuse, were misdirected at the people around me instead of at my abuser, as they should have been. I read an article in the Ensign Magazine, in August, 2013, which really impressed me.  I have occasionally used sarcasm, and also had it used on me, and I've seen it do a lot of damage to other's self confidence.  Below are excerpts from this article called "No Corrupt Communication", by Jennif...