80--CONTINUED--22 OUR MISSION IN ARIZONA

When all of the children were grown and had homes of their own, the Bishop called Arlo and me into his office and asked us to go on a mission. Arlo wasn't sure that we could do it. He sold the garage to Mitch and Mike 'Gary and they didn't pay anything on it and so it came back to us and we didn't have a job, except for the pay I received from the Library. Arlo told the Bishop that we would let him know our decision on Tuesday night. We talked about it and Arlo said he couldn't turn down his call, when he had expected his children to accept their calls. We didn't have an income if we went. The Bishop said the ward would send us, but that didn't feel good to Ärlo, but he decided to accept.

When we went for our physicals, Arlo didn't pass and was sent to Denver, because he had a serious heart problem. He had to have by-pass surgery. The doctor said he had a total blockage and was on the verge of a massive heart attack. He said he wouldn't have survived. He had 4 by-pass .

At the library a short time earlier, the county called me and asked several of the library staff if we were interested in a Blue Cross and Blue Shield medical policy. It would cover 100 percent of the cost of all medical bills. The agent said he didn't know how they could offer that policy. He said as an agent for the company, he was only allowed to get a 90 percent policy. I bought it and the county paid part of the payments. That insurance paid all of the three surgeries that he had.

When the surgeries were all done and paid, they called me by back to the county and told me that it was a mistake that we got 100 percent coverage. If we had not had that, we would not have been able to go on the mission, because we would have a big medical bill to pay.

On Arlo's ( Larry's son),2nd birthday, The 29th of September, Arlo and I entered the MTC. That night when we were all settled in our room, we got a phone call from Larry and Jeanette. Jeanette's father died that day.

We rode on bus to Holbrook, Arizona, where the Mission Home was. It was the only mission in the church that there was no airplane service. We stayed in the Mission home that night and the next day we went to Peach Springs, Arizona, where we worked for about 8 months of our mission.

When we first arrived there, they didn't have a branch president. The president thought Arlo might have to be the branch president. The searched the members of the branch and found a man who was not active in the church and Arlo helped him in many ways.

One of the first things that we did was go to the top of a hill near the town and Arlo took of his coat for me to kneel on and we knelt and he gave a Priesthood Blessing. That was a special experience for me.

We lived in a trailer house which was by the chapel. It was old and about ready for the scrap heap, but we did enjoy our time there. We had a lot of things that made our mission special.

80--CONTINUED--21

We spent many hour in the mountains. I remember one time Alta and Tiny and Norene and Sheila and Isabel and Don and RaeDean and Gordon and Arlo, and Doris Faye and Donnie and Kent and Bonnie Lynn camped out on Wolf Creek Pass. It was a beautiful place and I had a lot of pictures that we took up there, but I don't know if I have any of them now. Arlo was holding Bonnie Lynn. I saw somewhere that it was said that in that picture the child was Donnie, It was Bonnie Lynn. There was a picture of RaeDean and Doris Faye. It was close to the highway and we heard trucks passing by all night.

We made what we called a Brigham Bed. Out side was a dad, then all of their children between the mom. Next was the next family, starting with the mom, the children of that family and then the dad. The dad of the next family was next, then their children and the mom, until all of the families were in the bed together.
Cooking on a campfire and eating on the ground on a ground cover and playing games and telling stories.

I remember another time all of the same people camped in the Conejos Canyon. It was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed Grandpa Vance's family.

One year we went to the South Fork on the Conejos. LaRue and Harold and Eddie and Grandma Lawson and our family camped. There was a raspberry patch and we made jam and ate all the raspberries that we could pick. We mad a tent with poles and blankets for the kids to sleep in. We had fried fish and fried potatoes.


I remember one year LaVerl and I took some of the cousins to the flat below the cabin where they made a camp ground. We set up two tents. One for the girls and the other for the boys. We stayed there several nights. The girls decided to move their tent after several nights, and had just got it set up and all of their things in it when it started raining. One day Edgar, Ethel and Don and Elma came to have lunch with us. Just about the time that they arrived, it started raining. The lightning struck a tree nearby. I said that it hit a tree close because I felt a chip hit me, and Edgar said he didn't think so, but he went looking at the trees near where we were and and found where it had struck two trees that were side by side. It peeled the bark on both trees from the top to the bottom in a line about 3 inches wide from the top to the bottom of both trees. I watched those trees for several years, after we bought the cabin, and I walked along the river. One of them died.

Later, we had the cabin to stay in. That was nice for all of us. There wasn't as much preparation to get ready to go and we always had a place to sleep. There are a lot of memories there. I still enjoy going to the cabin. I never get enough of it. Those are precious memories. I enjoyed the reunions that have been held at the cabin. We had several with the Vances. Cecil and Jessie and Richard and his family and RaeDean and their children and Earl and Winnie and their children. Those are times that I enjoy remembering. There is a picture of Arlo, Earl, Richard, Gordon and I don't remember who else. There is also one of Earl and Winnie, Jessie and Cecil and Arlo and me.

I remember reunions with the Dunn family. We have some great pictures that were taken at the cabin. Those were wonderful times.

I remember many times as a young girl going to Aspen Glade Camp Ground. I always loved that place Arlo didn't like it very well so we never went there often with our family. We camped more at LaManga Camp Grounds. That was good too.