You Can Run But You Cannot Hide!

Our secret hideaway (aka "Mission Home") was invaded for 2 1/2 days a couple weeks ago by our daughter Jessica and her three boys and our daughter-in-law Karin. What fun we had squeezing in some delightful family time amongst mission meetings, phone calls and other responsibilities.
We felt invigorated by this visit. Our children and grandchildren are the joys of our life. And, of course, my wife is the Joyce of my life. We celebrated our 32nd wedding anniversary last week!


Photo: Our grandsons enjoy a smaller John Deere compared to the real tractor they ride on our farm in Redmond, Washington.

NFL Legend Visits Philadelphia Mission

(Click on photos to enlarge)
Steve Young, NFL Hall of Fame quarterback, visited some of our missionaries on September 17. Steve was in town for an ESPN Monday Night Football broadcast and he agreed to spend 45 minutes with a group of missionaries who serve in the Phiadelphia area that was close to the local football stadium. Those serving in Delaware, Maryland and other parts of Pennsylvania were unable to attend this meeting.

I've been a board member and financial supporter of Steve's Forever Young Foundation for the past 6-7 years. This foundation serves children who face significant physical, emotional, and financial challenges by providing academic, athletic, and therapeutic opportunities unavailable to them. This is a great organization. I encourage you to check it out at www.foreveryoung.org.

Steve told our missionaries about his experience of being too short as an NFL quarterback. Quite often he was unable to see his receivers because the defensive linemen charging towards him were so tall that they blocked his downfield vision. Steve learned how to "throw blind". He created a very close relationship with his primary receiver Jerry Rice. He could often sense where Jerry would be and he would throw the ball -- blind -- to that area of the football field. More often than not Jerry would catch the pass. Many of our missionaries related well to this story because they are often "thowing blind" as inexperienced 19 and 20 year olds teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to men and women many years older than them. In both cases -- on the football field and on the field of life -- great faith is required. It was so very considerate of Steve to give us 45 minutes of his time. He's a great friend and great man.


Steve Young (above) is standing in the middle of a group of Mormon missionaries in Philadelphia.

Sunday Night Scrabble Returns

We have played Scrabble on Sunday nights for many, many years. Sometimes Joyce wins...sometimes I win. No matter what happens, someone always wins. We had an unscheduled hour and our Scrabble game jumped off of the shelf and onto the kitchen table.


Take a look at those serious Scrabble warriors. And then study our completed Scrabble board. And then, if you must, take a look at the final score. 243 - 234. The queen won again!

Photo Op with a General Authority

Our Church is led by our Prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley. He is also referred to as the President of the Church. He and two couselors constitute the First Presidency of the Church. Directly supporting them is the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. These assignments, or callings, are for the duration of one's life.

Directly below the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the FIrst Quorum of Seventy. These are full-time ministerial callings with a worldwide focus. The majority of the men in these callings reside internationally.

When a new mission president has been on the job for a couple months, a member of this group comes to check up on things. I was privileged this last week to host Elder Glenn L. Pace for three days. He and his wife stayed in the mission home and Joyce and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know both of them and receiving wise counsel and advice.

We spent two full days in Zone Conferences where we met with all of our missionaries. I provided instruction in the morning of each day and Elder Pace provided instrution in the afternoon. Following each day we took a group photo. You'll see two photos in this blog posting. Combined together these are all of the wonderful missionaries currently serving in the Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission.

Note: Click on the photos and they'll expand to full size (although I'll still appear small in them!!).

"Azee-ool" - Thank You in Krahn

This past week I said "Azee-ool" or "thank you" in Krahn to Elder and Sister Norton. The Nortons just finished their one year mission and are returning home this week. Marland "Honk" Norton and his wife Roberta arrived in our mission a year ago from Ft. Thomas, Arizona. The Nortons are a "senior missionary couple". We have 4-5 other such couples in our mission. Married in 1958, Honk and Roberta worked for years as school teachers. Honk was also a basketball coach. And Roberta could pretty much do it all. In her own words, "I unlocked the doors and turned on the lights in the mornings and locked the doors and turned out the lights in the evenings." When most couples are sitting back and enjoying retirement, the Nortons volunteered to serve a one year mission -- and what a mission it turned out to be!



The Nortons were assigned to live and work within the boundaries of the Philadelphia 1st Ward. This is an inner-city area with characteristics and safety issues similar to inner-city areas of other large older cities in our country. Their assignment was to proselytize, provide leadership and record the family histories and genealogies of the West African people who had immigrated to Philadelphia and had joined the Church.

What started as a seemingly straight forward assignment became a work of the heart for the Nortons. Upon their departure they presented me with a book containing over 80 detailed life stories of West Africans who had survived torture, civil wars and poverty in Liberia, The Ivory Coast and Ghana -- and had eventually immigrated to America. Many of these good people came from the Krahn Tribe in Liberia, a tribe the rebels were bent on destroying.

Here is one brief part of a story about a man named Robert who was born in 1930 in Liberia. This part of the story took place in 1989: "Robert was captured by the rebels and tortured. After his capture he was beaten with a dried, rolled-up cow hide. The rebel soldiers also took him and staked him out naked on the ground with his face to the sun. Without any clothes on and unable to cover his body or face, it was very painful." Eventually Robert escaped and made his way to a U.N. refugee camp where he found his wife and part of his family. They lived in this camp, barely surviving, for 10 years. In 2000 he and his wife came to America - to begin a new life - at age 70. Three or four years later our LDS missionaries met them and introduced them to the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Robert and his wife both accepted the Gospel and were baptized. They are now active members of the Philadelphia 1st Ward, a congregation with many Liberian families -- making it one of the more unique and colorful LDS congregations America.

The Nortons got more than they bargained for in their one year mission. They fell in love with the West Africans -- an experience they never expected. And they provided an exceptional service to the Liberian community in Philadelphia by documenting so many life stories. The torture and inhumane actions perpetrated on these people in their native lands can no longer be hidden. The Nortons will be greatly missed by their African brothers and sisters in the Philadelphia 1st Ward.

Azee-ool Elder and Sister -- Honk and Roberta -- Norton! We love you!