"Feed my Sheep"

I don't have a lot of events to write about from this past week.  Tuesday I received an email from Nan (or David), that one of my relatives, Eleanor Christensen Brandt, had died and they were burying her in Springville on Wednesday.  They were going to have a short reception, then a short "sharing of memories" before they went to the cemetery to lay her to rest.  This is the link to her obituary if any of you are interested. Eleanor Christensen Brandt  The reason that I felt compelled to go down to the reception was because, though I had probably either never met her, or met her only once, I used to write pen pal letters to her mother, my grandfather's sister. Clara Clyde Christensen.  I am pretty sure that the deceased was not active in the church, nor her brother. Were her parents?  I wish I could ask my dad because I really don't know.  I am thinking that if they were, they were not super active.  If you read the obituary, you'll have seen that though she married, she never had any children.  I have to say that I have never been to a sadder funeral.  I am sure she had a good life, and she lived into old age, but there were a total of maybe 20 people at the reception, including her brother and his wife, and one of their four children. I doubt any of the other attendees knew her any better than I did.  In the life sketch, given by Ralph (the brother), he said that in 1998 she and her husband were robbed, and after that Eleanor grew a little bit reclusive, though he, Ralph, wasn't very aware of this.  In 2000 her husband died, and she became more reclusive.  A few years after that she cut her leg on some new books she had bought.  She treated the cut herself and it got infected.  She finally got medical help, but she soon lost her ability to walk because of the injury.  At that point she went to a nursing home in California, and a year before she died, she went to a nursing home in Kentucky to be near her brother.  At the reception Ralph read thoughts from two friends and her youngest nephew,  One of the friends was her mailman (female).  I just found it so sad that there was no one but her brother and his family to mourn her death or rejoice in her life.  I am just so very grateful for my family of 8 children, my siblings--all 6 of them--my nieces and nephews--all 37 (on my side) of them.  As much as my dad loved his family, as much as I love mine, I don't think we realize how important posterity is--on this side of the veil and the next.  I don't know if Eleanor and her husband wanted children.  If they did, I'm sure it was very hard that they never had that blessing in their lives.

In Relief Society today we spoke of feeding the Savior's sheep.  There are many ways to do this.  We often think of it in terms of missionary work, but we are all the Savior's sheep.  We need to reach out to others who are lonely, sad, sick, or afraid... I recently finished reading my dad's autobiography. He lived an exemplary life.  It was interesting for me to read his thoughts.  There were times when he made mistakes, and he regretted these times--the times when maybe he didn't treat his fellowman as he felt he should. For example--this excerpt from his book:

When high school life began as a freshman, I had an attitude

and a little too much confidence. Certainly, I felt that way when

I started high school, thinking I was an adult, not just a teen-

aged kid.  It didn’t take long for me to become disabused of this

notion. I did something terrible on the very first dance date

that was an embarrassment to me for a good while.   I took a

girl whose name was Phyllis, and I thought she was one of the

prettiest of the class. I didn’t drive a car to this dance because I

was only fifteen, but of necessity depended upon someone else.

At the dance, when the kids at school found out that I brought

Phyllis to the freshman ball, two or three of them came up and

said, “She has a reputation.   How come you asked her?” After I

found that out, it frightened me and I didn’t want anything to

do with her. I didn’t see her again during that dance because I

thought her reputation was going to pass off onto me, so I

abandoned her.

I never found out how she got home. I’ve regretted that ever

since.  I should have been thoughtful, but I was still a dumb kid,

not an adult, and certainly not yet a gentleman.  She never

talked to me after that and I deserved it. I didn’t stop to realize

the ramifications of that neglect. I was the one who suffered

most and still regret it. Surprisingly, the matter never surfaced

again and I didn’t hear a comment about it from anyone.

My dad was such a humble, repentant, man at the end of his life.  I really felt that humility as I read his book.
I have also had a couple of experiences in my life when I didn't live up to who I should be and I have some regret.  One time, while we were running the theater in Atlanta, we were fixing a big turkey dinner for the cast on closing night.  A man came in, begging.  He had a sign that said he was deaf and blind and he wanted money.  We were actually pretty poor at the time, but I could have given him a few dollars, or given him a plate of dinner, but one of the actors said to me, "You need to get rid of him, he could hurt your business."  So I took the man's arm and led him outside.  I do regret that.  I wish I had ignored the actor, and offered something to the man.  Another regret I have is from early in my school years.  There was a girl in my elementary school that was quite homely and she had a lot of moles on her face.  All of the kids were mean to her.  I wasn't that mean, but neither was I inclusive. One afternoon I was bored, so I called her number and said some mean things to her.  I don't remember what I said.  I called her again and said something else mean.  Afterwards, I immediately felt sorry, so I called again.  Her mother answered and asked me who it was.  I told her, and she put her daughter on the phone and I apologized.  Still, I am sure the damage was done.  She had a hard life and never fit in well.  She finally married at about the age of 40, and the man she married had several kids.  I am glad she found some happiness.  I am sorry I was one of those who was unkind.

I saw some of the family this week.  Adrienne and Jieun were over on Thursday afternoon to practice the violin piece we'll be playing next week in Adrienne's ward.  I didn't take any pictures, but I found these pictures Adrienne sent me a couple of weeks ago that I didn't see in time to include in the last newsletter.

This was from the Green's weekend in St. George
AJ had some business down there and they shared
a Condo with a couple of families.

Dan sent me a few pictures from their Saturday.

Crista was going to come down while Matt went camping with the scouts, but he found he needed the car, so she didn't come, which was just as well because it was so cold that Matt actually ended up roasting marshmallows in their backyard and not camping at all.  Matt is the new Young Men's president in their ward.  Good luck, Matt!

I got a picture of Ori when she came over with her dad to borrow a cookie sheet Sunday evening.  We ended up seeing everyone of the Davis County kids on Sunday evening.  

 

Once again, I just want to say how grateful I am for family, for all of you! I am grateful for the love and relationships I enjoy in my life and for the Gospel of Jesus Christ that gives me the guidelines necessary to get the most out of these wonderful relationships.