The supposed calling envy

 

The supposed calling envy 

There is no inequality in the gospel of Jesus Christ and His true church. All are children of God and are equal before him, as long as we keep His commandments.

 
Let me illustrate how inappropriate thinking can keep us from understanding how the Lord administers His kingdom.

Before we moved to Lander the stake president needed to call a bishop to serve in the Lander first ward. He and his counselors cleared the individual with the high council and submitted the recommendation to the First Presidency. He then informed the individual to expect the call. The First Presidency informed the stake president that he should find another candidate, because this man was employed at a job that required him to work on Sunday. That was a big blow to the man. He later served on the high council. 

 

When I was the stake president the stake Sunday school president moved and we needed to replace him. I felt inspired to call this brother to serve in that calling. I understood that he felt that this was a demotion and shortly after this he moved to the Big Horn basin. I heard that he had hard feelings toward me. He didn’t know that he was no less serviceable in that position.

We had a neighbor who went to high school with me. She was much younger and we went to church together. She married in the Idaho Falls temple the same day we were married. Her father had served as the branch president and was at one time on the high council. After awhile she was upset that her husband was not “promoted “ to a leadership position in the church. They eventually divorced and he married a girl that I took to a high school dance on my return from my mission in 1957. She joined the church and as far as I know she is active even after he died two years ago. The first wife is inactive.

We do not have a church where every member is unimportant. 

We need every calling and they are needed for the body of Christ. Metaphorically speaking we cannot be without a single toe. 

 

Love,

Grandpa

Service in the church

 Service in the church

Most young people are accustomed to equating missionary service with proselytizing. 

Let me illustrate by an experience. My brother Martell had a grandson who was not physically qualified to serve a proselyting mission. He had congenital heart disease and was operated on and went into cardiac arrest on the table when he was about 4 years old. Because of his postoperative condition he was ill suited to serve a standard mission. My brother asked me about it and I told him that there were a number of handicapped young men who were serving in the family history library. They would help people and work in the archives and microfilm services. A couple of these young men were in wheelchairs. At that time this was a mission that was not part of the missionary department. The application went directly to that mission president. It now goes through the missionary committee.

All young missionaries now go through the missionary committee. They are screened by medical and psychiatric specialists and then by a committee of staff at the Missionay department who make recommendations to the assignment committee consisting of a member of the council of the twelve and other general authorities. They make the assignments for all the young service missionaries and all the proselyting missionaries and all those that go to the family history library.

This is different than when I was called on my mission in 1954 for 36 months. There was no screening. The application was filled out with a recommendation by my father who was the branch president and the mission president. I was then interviewed by a general authority. In my case it was Carl W. Buehner who was a counselor in the presiding bishopric.

On our two couples missions 1997-2000 and 2001-2003 we were recruited by the head of the missionary medical committee for the first mission and the area presidency for our second mission. We just filled out the paperwork and got the call from the church president. 

My fourth mission came as a service missionary after I had been a volunteer in the Missionay department for 17 years. It was a 2 year assignment that ended in August 2023. I did not fill out any paperwork and didn’t have any priesthood interviews. I was set apart by a counselor in the bishopric If I look at my record on Tools I am still listed as a service missionary even though I have been released. I lived at home and only worked on Tuesday after noon. My wife was not with me on this mission. Because of Covid the last half of this mission did not require me to go to the church office building. I just sat at my computer in our office at home.

We serve where and when we are called. Most members of the church think that there is a rank in the church. Members feel that if you are called to be a bishop that you are more important than if you were called to be a counselor or a clerk and that you have a higher approval rating in the eyes of the Lord. A deacon passing the sacrament is no less serviceable to the Lord as well as is the teacher in the nursery.

The Lord needs servants in all the positions in the church.

You may not know the following, because I have not made this known, but I think this is appropriate to share at this time. 

Different stake presidents have recommended me to the first presidency to serve as; 

1. Mission President
2. Temple president. 

They were thinking that I ought to know, but that was not in accordance with church policy. I did not sit around waiting for the call.

I was not disappointed when I was not called. The Lord used my talents and abilities in the place where I was needed and that I really enjoyed, missionary medical. The Lord knows who and where he needs our talents. If those in leadership positions rely on inspiration we will be just as important as any of the Lord's chosen servants.

I have written about my experiences in another blog.

 https://wyomingdoc.blogspot.com/2024/03/the-supposed-calling-envy.html

We have 7 church service missionaries in our stake. 

If you have concerns about serving a mission, talk to your bishop. 

What good would it do?

 What good would it do? Also, would it help?

The first question comes from a quote to me from Elder Boyd K. Packer during the time that I was stake president. We did not have the organizational structure that exists in the church today. At that time if a stake president had a question he would call the church office in Salt Lake and ask the operator to speak to an authority and would be connected to the authority on call. 

I had a question that was not addressed in the documents or general handbook of instructions. When I asked him what I should tell the person what they should do, I proposed a solution and Elder Packer responded, “What good would it do?” I responded that it would not do any good.

The next quote is from the movie “Bridge of Spies”.

The prisoner of the Americans was questioned about something and his reply was, “Would it help?”

The other day some pro Palestinian demonstrators held up traffic on the freeway and on an overpass. When one asks whether their actions would have any effect on helping stop the war many miles away. What would your answer be?
Would it help? What good would it do?
Does demonstrating make any difference in mediating differences in conflicts abroad or changing opinions over things we cannot control?

How do you think the people who were affected by this action reacted? I would hazard a guess that only about one of a hundred were sympathetic. The others were disturbed and exasperated. How do you think the driver in one of the cars who had an appointment and was late felt?

Would it help the Palestinians? What good would it do?

We are here on earth to do good. This demonstration will not bring us closer to God. How would these demonstrators feel if the tables were turned and they were the ones on the other side.

Christ said do unto others as you would have done unto you.

We need to follow Christ and not Babylon or the world. When the question is asked would it help? Or what good would it do? We hope we can answer in the affirmative, it will!!!

Measure your actions against the standards of the gospel of Christ. 

Love,
Grandpa

The twenty Mark note

 

We recently watched a YouTube talk by Elder Bednar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGS45Fd9nmE&t=840s

In it he described an event that happened on his mission in 1972. Elder Boyd K. Packer was visiting the mission and needed to go to Berlin to visit that mission. He was unable to fly because his flight was cancelled. They had to take the train instead. Elder Bednar gave Elder Packer a 20 Mark note because he thought that he and his wife might need some money to buy some food.
When they got to the East German border, they had to present their passports. Elder Packer’s passport was in order, but his wife’s passport was a 3-year passport that was extended to 5 years. The East German government did not recognize this type of passport and would take the holder off the train. Elder Packer gave both passports and the 20 Mark note to the guard and later the guard returned the passports without the money. They arrived safely in Berlin. I doubt that Elder Packer knew rhe value of the 20 Marks.

What Elder Bednar did not explain was that the exchange rate at that time was $1 was worth 4.23 West German marks. I am unable to find the exchange rate of West German currency to East German marks, but when I was in Berlin it was 5 to 1. That means that that 20 Mark bill was worth 100 East German Marks. If I can estimate that money would be 3+ weeks’ pay.

 

I reached out to my contact in Berlin, and this is the information that he sent.

Here is what I could find regarding the salary of East German soldiers:

 

https://home.snafu.de/veith/besoldun.htm

 

About the exchange rate between German – later West-German - Marks and the US Dollar I can say that it stayed mainly the same between ca. late 1923 and about 1973, i. e. about 4,23 Marks / DM for 1 USD. If I remember correctly, this was something that was fixed after the end of the German inflation in late 1923. Only after 1973 was there a free exchange agreed upon rate that varied depending on the market.

 

The East German Mark had about the same value as you experienced it until about 1989, although at times its value was less, depending on certain political and economic situations. For the East German authorities, the official rate was 1:1, but that was politically motivated without any relation to the economic reality. Only after 1989 did the exchange rate plunge down to about 1:8 or even 1:10, making it very easy for West Germans to buy things in the east until the currency reunification on July 1, 1990.

 I hope this helps you somewhat.

While I was on my mission 1954-1957, I traveled by train from Hildesheim through the East Zone to Berlin in January 1955. We were not allowed to open the window shades or look out the windows and had to have a travel permit issued by the Russian commander in East Berlin.

I then traveled by train from Berlin to Bern, Switzerland and back with the same restrictions when I went to the temple dedication. Then later again from Berlin to Flensburg by train.

When Clark was released in 1980, we bought a car and drove through East Germany to Berlin and back. Clark said that it was like going from technicolor to black and white. The exchange rate was about the same at that time. We also had to show our passports at the border in Helmstedt.

The next time we went to Berlin the wall was down and we could travel without restrictions.

 

 

An Uncle Vernon Story

 

I heard this story from my father.

My uncle Vernon Gee graduated from Idaho State University as a pharmacist. He wanted to go to medical school. He applied to Northwestern University in Chicago where his cousin Dr. George Lowe had gone. George was four years older than Vernon.

Vernon went to Chicago expecting to be accepted into medical school, but was not accepted. This did not deter him. He went to the registrar's office in the medical school and asked if he could be admitted if someone dropped out. This he did on a regular basis. Then one day he was told that someone had dropped out and he could be admitted. He completed medical school and went on to specialize and served in a MASH unit in Korea. 

I also applied to Northwestern, but the University of Utah was the first to accept me.  

 

Remember that persistence pays.

Disappointments in life

 

Disappointments in life

I will document some of the challenges in my life.

When I was in medical school two of my classmates sang in the tabernacle choir. At Christmas time ZCMI hired a quartet to dress up as elves and go around the store and sing Christmas carols. I sang bass and practiced with them. I wanted to earn some money during the Christmas break from school. I thought I was going to be singing with them, but they decided I was not a fit. I had to scramble for a job and wound up working at the post office.

During my senior year of medical school the armed forces had a plan called the Berry plan. If the candidate applied and was accepted the selected branch of the service would pay the tuition for school in exchange for four years of service as an officer. One could do the internship and residency to count as those years at a salary much higher than most internships and residency programs paid at that time. I had a physical at Fort Douglas and was declared not fit to serve.

I applied for an obstetrics residency at LDS hospital when I was an intern. One day a drug representative asked me if I wasn’t going to the LDS hospital for my residency. I told him that I hadn’t heard. He said that all the slots were filled. I called the doctor who was the head of the department. When I asked him why I hadn’t heard he told me they must have lost my application.

I had learned about an opening for a doctor in the BYU Jerusalem center from doctor Linford, who had served there from 1996-1998. When we got home from our mission in Germany in 2000, I applied for that position. The individual at BYU who was over the program had a disagreement with John and I was told never to apply again.

After we moved to North Salt Lake, I knew the doctor who was over the MTC in Provo. He was leaving and I sent in an application to replace him. I didn’t hear anything and I finally called them and they said they must have lost my application and they had hired someone else.

Disappointments and unfulfilled expectations come into everyone’s life. It depends on how we handle them. That is the test of our trip through mortality.

Love,

Grandpa

2 inches and two squares

 2 inches and two squares

This a strange title for a blog. The content is referring to our experiences growing up. 

Two inches

 
Alice was told that when she went to take a bath she was only to run two inches of water in the tub. Her mother would say every time she went to take a bath,”Only two inches Alice Virginia.”

The reasons were the cost of the water and at that time houses had septic tanks.
You probably have never had to deal with a septic tank. You are blessed with a sewer line that the water and sewage take that from your house and you never think about having to pay the water bill.

Two squares

 
This is grandpa’s story. We had a bathroom and tub all the time I was growing up until we moved to Lander. We were allowed as much water in the tub as we wanted. My mother asked her three boys to only use two squares of toilet paper when they went to the bathroom. We did not know what a bidet was and no one where we lived had any knowledge of that. I did as my mother requested and used just two squares. The toilet paper at that time was not soft like we buy today, but it was better than the paper in my grandmother Stucki’s outhouse. When we went to Paris we used the outhouse because she did not have a toilet in the house. It was built before they had indoor plumbing. My uncle Morris Athay put the bathroom toilets in the house. The toilet paper in the outhouse was the Montgomery Ward catalog.

You are raised in an affluent society compared to your grandparents. Your grandmother was paid 35 cents an hour when she was growing up working at the dime store and babysitting. I had a paper route and then worked at J. C. Penny after I was in high school for fifty cents an hour after school sweeping the floor.

Our parents did not have much money and had to pinch pennies and we grew up in that environment. So when you think things are bad remember your grandparents did not have it as good as you do. 

 

Love,

Grandpa