Life Story of Merrill Eugene Worsley
October 23, 1927
2 Nephi 25:26
“And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”
Life Story of Merrill Eugene Worsley Compiled by his children (source: consolidated previous histories, interviews, newspaper articles, dictation taken November 2013)
Introduction by Tina Cheney After reviewing the many personal histories written by our father, Merrill Eugene Worsley, the content captured from interviews with him and from the transcripts of his personal dictation of memories, we have been overwhelmed with gratitude for the immovable foundation of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that his life represents. Our father truly is a loyal friend and disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is a man of integrity. His daily life reflects his personal commitment and dedication to the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. His daily actions have woven a beautiful tapestry of faith based on a pattern of daily prayer and scripture study, a dedicated focus on genealogy and temple work, a deep desire to serve others, and a perfect knowledge of the blessings of renewing sacred covenants every week. His living testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ, has profoundly influenced his children and great-grandchildren. The words and memories on the following pages reflect only a glimmer of the light that radiates from the stories of his life. We love you, Dad, and are forever grateful for your life and your example of faith. Childhood during the Great Depression (told in first person by Dad Worsley) I was born the 23rd of October, 1927 in Salt Lake City, Utah. My father, Victor Eugene Worsley, married my mother, Emma Mae Forsyth, on January 25, 1925. My oldest sister, Mona Mae Worsley, was born about one year later on February 1, 1926. I was born twenty months after my sister, followed by my youngest sister Margaret Elaine Worsley being born twenty-one months later on July 3, 1929. This was during the beginning of the Great Depression in the United States. My father tried to earn a living in Salt Lake City, where we lived in a home on C Street. He learned the skill of assaying and even sold ice cream on the street as a second job, but this was not enough to support a growing family. Subsequently, he went out of town seeking employment at various mines as an alchemist or assayer. When I was four until about eight years of age, he worked as an assayer in Kingman, Arizona at the gold mines, sending his pay home to support the family. One of the sad things in my life, as I think back on my early years, was that I did not really have a lot of contact with my father when I was a young child. He was out of town so much, allowed to leave his post to come home for only brief visits. My mother said that he was gone for almost two years at one time. My youngest brother Victor Douglas was born on April 10, 1931 during the time my father worked in Arizona. It must have been such a heavy burden for my mother to care for four young children, without the companionship of a spouse during those years that my father worked at the Kingman mines. We lived close
1 to my father’s mother and father, John Edwin Worsley and Minnie Mae White Worsley. I do not recall visiting them much while my father was out of town. I also recall visiting my mother’s mother, Emily Elizabeth Ruffell Forsyth. My grandfather, William Forsyth died on March 15, 1926 at the age of 65 before I was born. I was told by my mother that he was struck by lightning in Liberty Park in Salt Lake City. His death certificate shows that he died at home by cerebral hemorrhage, which would have been consistent if being struck by lightning. When Grandfather Forsyth died, there were still four of his eight children living at home under the age of 18. Grandmother Forsyth, now a young widow at age 52, lived in the very poor area of Salt Lake City at 229 North 7th West Street, down by the railroad tracks. I remember sleepovers at her home when my mother was performing. I recall the flashing lights, the sound of the wheels on the tracks and the whistles, and feeling the vibrations as the large freight trains passed by the house at night. My mother had a beautiful soprano voice and loved to sing. She started performing publicly around 1930 with the Ladies Literary Clubs in Salt Lake City and Ogden. My father, on one of his trips home, bought my mother a piano so that she could enjoy her music and practice for her performances at home. (I have kept that piano in our family over the years. When my father was heading back to Arkansas, he called and asked me to come and get the piano to keep it in the family. Barbara and I traveled to Bountiful and picked up the piano and brought it back to our home in Boise.) I remember my mother singing duets with a young man that was three years younger from Idaho named Marlowe Nielson. They sang contemporary romantic duets regularly on KSL Radio. I recall them practicing each week at our home with an accompanist. As a child, I was in awe at their passion they were able to express as they sang. My mother began taking voice training around this time with Albert J. Southwick, the Director of the Orpheus Club. She sang two songs on June 11, 1933 at a public recital that was sponsored by the Orpheus Club and the Salt Lake Oratorio Society: “When I was Seventeen” by Kramer and “Solveig’s Song” by Grieg. My mother was very good and was a featured soloist in many operettas and performances during 1931 through October of 1934. She had dreams of someday performing on stage at the San Francisco Metropolitan Opera. I loved to hear my mother sing. She planted the seed that blossomed into my own love of singing and music appreciation. I recall that I was a difficult child. It may have been the red hair. One day I was outside our house and I picked up a rock and threw it at a car passing by. I hit the windshield and broke the glass. I immediately ran around the house to the back porch and hid under the stairs. The driver came to our home and found me. My mother had to use our limited funds to purchase a new windshield. Much later in my life, after my father and I had returned to Salt Lake City to live, I discovered that this man was my math teacher at West High School in Salt Lake City. He still remembered the windshield incident. My education started at the age of five going to kindergarten at the Lowell School in Salt Lake City, Utah. I completed my kindergarten experience and continued on to first grade. I was required to take the first grade over. While attending school here, I fell off the tricky bars and cut my teeth through my mouth or lip, leaving a scar that is still visible. I recall another experience when I was in the first grade. There was a bully that chased me home every day after school and I would run into my home crying, seeking protection from my mother. She finally told me to go out and beat up that bully or she was going to beat me up. So I went out and defended myself. I learned a valuable lesson. You don’t have to run away from bullies. So, I went through all my grade school years fighting down bullies. The Katherine Mine in the Kingman area where my father was working closed after a fire severely damaged the mine structures in September of 1934. My father injured his little finger during the fire, which never
2 healed properly. With the mine closed, he could not find any other work in the area. He came home to Salt Lake City, unemployed, in October 1934. While he had been away working, he and my mother were somewhat estranged. After dad came back, my mother told him that they needed to talk. They went into a room behind closed doors, away from the children, and she told him that it had been extremely hard to be the only caregiver for a small family. Mother enjoyed performing and she felt she could be successful if given the opportunity. She wanted a divorce and said she wanted to go to San Francisco to follow her dream. She already had the divorce papers prepared and asked him to sign them. When they came out of the room, my father’s eyes were red and swollen. My mother left the next day on a bus heading to San Francisco, dropping the divorce papers to her attorney on the way out of town. At this time, Mona, my oldest sister, would have been about 8 years old, I was about 7 years old and in first grade at school, Elaine, my younger sister, would have been about 5 years old and Doug would have been about 3 years old. The divorce papers were processed and the courts officially granted the divorce on December 11, 1934. Childhood without a Mother Shortly after my mother left, my father found work as an assayer in California and he packed up all four children, loaded us up in the Buick and headed to the mining area in Northern California. Dad found work first in Nevada City then a short period in Grass Valley. These mining communities are about 60 miles northeast of Sacramento, near Auburn. After a short period, my father finally found steady employment for Ward & Ward Assay Office in Auburn serving the mining areas in Nevada City and Grass Valley. Dad hired a housekeeper to cook and take care of the children. Mona and I attended the elementary school in Nevada City. While living in Grass Valley, I was playing with some boys of the neighborhood when they started to pull off the bark of a tree and smoking it. They coaxed me and I finally took a puff and became dizzy and sick. I wanted to go home so I left amid threats that if I should go they would shoot at me with their pellet guns and BB guns. I left anyway. While fleeing, I was struck with a BB in the arm which was lodged deep and my father had to remove it with a knife. Another incident that I recall involved my favorite “go to” weapons – rocks. I was exchanging rocks in a battle with a local boy and I ran out of ammunition. I grabbed the next best item I could reach which was a metal cast iron toy train locomotive. When I let it fly it contacted with the young man’s head and he ran for home. His mother brought him over to speak with my father that evening. I remember receiving a reprimand by way of a razor strap. This was one time that I truly had the punishment coming. We attended the Branch of the Church in Grass Valley for the period of time that we were in Nevada City as well as the time we were in Grass Valley. My father took an active part in the Church and the Branch. We had a Branch Primary that I attended and enjoyed very much. I had not been baptized in Salt Lake City when I had turned eight, as this was right during the time that my father was returning from the Kingman mines and my mother had left the family. I was baptized on November 24, 1935 in Redding, CA when I was nine years old by Thomas A. Clawson. I was confirmed on December 15, 1935 by Harold Householder. Sometime during 1937 my father had to seek employment elsewhere. We moved to Jamestown, CA for a couple of months then on to Sonora, CA where he found work in an assayer shop testing the ore and precious metal content of the materials extracted from the mines. Sonora is in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, east of Stockton and close to Yosemite National Park. This mining area was called the Mother Lode and was the richest mining area in the country. We rented a home in the community and my father hired a caregiver to take care of the four children by day, prepare our meals and do the laundry. Our rental home was at the top
3 of the hill and our elementary school was at the bottom of the hill. I could get running really fast down that hill, gaining enough speed and momentum to jump and clear the small stream at the bottom of the hill by the school. When I would get in trouble with my father, I would take off running away from Dad down the hill and jump across the stream. Dad ran after me, but had to stop short of the creek. He was not happy. I did have to face the music, however, when I came home for dinner. I finished my fifth grade in school in Sonora. After a while, my father found a home in Columbia about five miles north of Sonora. I remember that our caregiver was Susie Miller, an older lady. My father had given me a 22-single shot rifle in Columbia. I would hunt squirrels in the surrounding mountains. They were large enough that the meat would provide for a good meal. As children, we also gathered the large pinecones that grew in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and harvested the pine nuts. We were active and involved with the Church. When my father first arrived in Sonora, there were only five or six members of the Church…not enough to have a branch, so my father would send us to church at the Methodist Church for Sunday School. I can remember the things that they would teach us and the thoughts that I used to have about some of their doctrine. We used to drive a distance of 80 miles to be in a church of our own faith and attend the area conferences held there. I believe that it was while we were living in Sonora that we traveled to Fresno to attend the branch there. After a short time, my father interested the missionaries to come to Sonora and they started a branch there with my father called to be the Branch President. We used to hold our Church meetings in the Odd Fellows Hall in Sonora. I recall the Sundays that the missionaries came to our house to eat and the wonderful meetings we had. I was ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood to the office of a Deacon by Alton Morrell on December 10, 1939. Brother Herbert C. Prince was a traveling Patriarch that came to our home in Columbia and gave all four of the children Patriarchal blessings on August 4, 1940. Mona was 14, I was still 12, Elaine had just turned 11 and Doug was 9 years old. The Lord knew the challenges that would soon beset our small family. This was one of my last memories of my siblings all being together with my father in Columbia. The Patriarch did not declare my lineage in my blessing at that time, so I requested and received a supplemental Patriarchal Blessing much later in life when I was a Bishop in Boise, Idaho. At that time, I was told I was from the tribe of Ephraim. After my mother left Salt Lake City, we did not see or hear from her for about six years. She did not know that my father had taken us to California to find work. During the first two years after the divorce, my mother met and fell in love with a man in San Francisco that she wanted to marry. His name was Andreas Raymond Christensen and he had been married before to Marie Juelette Engh in Salt Lake City, Utah on 6 June 1928. They had an infant son named Harold Raymond Christensen before they were divorced. My mother married Raymond Christensen in November 1936 in Reno, Nevada. A home without Sisters Sometime after mother was remarried, she decided that she wanted to get her children back from my father. In 1940, my mother hired a private detective to locate where we were. The 1940 US Census Records of June 12, 1940 show that she and her new husband were staying at the New Ute Hotel in Salt Lake City, UT at the time the census was taken. This would support that she was working with a private detective in Salt Lake City to track where the family had gone. I remember that mother and her new husband came up to
4 the Branch in Sonora to find us on a Sunday in the fall of 1940. She told my father “I think I can do a better job of raising these girls than you can. They are coming into young womanhood and they need to have a mother.” And Dad told her that if the girls wanted to go with her, then he would give permission. So, she took the girls and took half of our family away. Mona was 14, Elaine was 11. Doug, my younger brother at age 9 years, stayed with my father and me. I was close to 13 years old at the time. This really broke my father’s heart, but we had to go on. Mother arranged for the boys to have an annual visit with her in California each year going forward. While we were living in Columbia, I remember sitting with my father and little brother by the radio on December 7, 1941 and hearing President Roosevelt declare that Pearl Harbor had been attacked by the Japanese and that the United States was at war. I can still remember the shocking and stunning effect that news had. We lived in Columbia through my eighth grade. During the spring of 1942, we moved to Auburn, California, a community northeast of Sacramento, CA for the summer. Around that period, President Roosevelt issued the Presidential Order L-208 that ordered all non-essential metal mines to be closed. The purpose of that order was to focus the country’s mining resources and equipment on necessary metals needed to support the war efforts. All gold mines were closed at that time. That fall, we moved back to Salt Lake City, Utah where Dad took a job with Black and Deason, an alchemist (assayer) shop in Salt Lake City where my father worked on 165 South West Temple. Dad purchased a home on L Street, in an area called “the Avenues”. I remember making a conscience decision that I was going to try to get away from all the bullying and my history of fighting when we moved back to Salt Lake City. I felt I did not have to prove myself to anyone. I was attending Bryant Jr. High School and one day in our Health Education class a bully came in and challenged anyone to wrestle. In my mind I thought, he is just another bully. No one stepped forward to wrestle him. In my heart I thought which is worse, to be a coward or to fight back and maybe get pinned? So, I accepted his challenge. We wrestled for about fifteen minutes. He could not pin me and I could not pin him. We rolled over and he screamed with pain. When we rolled over we discovered that his arm had been broken at the elbow. I was never challenged by bullies after that and I didn’t fight much again. …And then there were only two Shortly after returning to Salt Lake City, Doug and I went to San Francisco on a bus to visit my mother and my sisters. As my father was placing us on the bus for the trip, he asked me to please promise to bring Doug back to Salt Lake City with me. When we arrived in California, I remember riding bicycles and eating ice- cream. Mother would treat us to a lot of fun activities. When the time came for us to return to Salt Lake City, my mother told me that Doug was going to stay with her and the girls and asked me if I also wanted to stay with her and our sisters. At this time, I had already received a testimony of the Gospel and I knew that my mother and my sisters were not going to Church. I knew that if I stayed, I would not be able to attend my meetings or be encouraged to stay active in the Church. My mother told my brother that he would not have to be forced to go to Church if he stayed with her. He chose to stay with my mother and sisters in California. Doug would have been about ten years old at the time, as I was around fourteen. It was a very long and sad bus trip as I returned home alone to live with my father. When I was still fourteen, I was assigned to be a home teacher in the East Ensign Ward. My home teaching companion and I were assigned to visit Brother Tangren, who worked as an area district ranger for the
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Forest Service. He was recruiting for forest guards, and was having difficulty finding eligible men to hire with so many called as soldiers for World War II. Brother Tangren was very impressed with my diligence and commitment as a young home teacher. He invited me to work as a forest guard in Mill Creek Canyon east of Salt Lake City, UT. My father agreed, so I went to work in the camp grounds in Mill Creek camp ground the following summer. I was only 15 years old and I lived by myself in a tent, cleaned the camp grounds, patrolled the area at night, and on occasion I was also called on to fight forest fires. The tent I lived in was about 8’ x 6’ and had four staked walls, with an opening on the end. I had my camp cot and all my supplies needed to survive. My weekly food supplies were stored in the corner of the tent with canned goods and non-perishable items. The perishable items were stored in a canvas box socked with water, similar to a swamp cooler kept on the outside of the tent. There was no heater in the tent. The tent kept the weather out well, so I was never wet or uncomfortable in the tent. The camp areas that I patrolled were only for day use, so I was on my own once the visitors left. I was very social and often joined the campers around the camp fire or in an amphitheater for singing and storytelling. I was like a traveling minstrel sharing my songs among the camper groups. I worked for three years during the summers as a forest guard in the canyons east of Salt Lake Valley. I enjoyed this time in the mountains. It was very peaceful. I also enjoyed fishing the streams and rivers found in the Little Cottonwood Canyon, whenever I had a break from my forest guard duties. On one occasion I was assigned to fight fires on Mount Olympus. We hiked into the fire line and I was assigned the job to help control that portion of the fire line. As I was walking the fire line I heard a loud pop and I could not see what had made the noise. I walked around a large tree that was blocking my vision and saw a large tree whose trunk had been gutted by the blaze falling in my direction. I started to run away from the falling tree and the Spirit warned me to change my direction, which I did and the tree crashed at my heels. The second year I served as a forest guard I was assigned to Little Cottonwood Canyon. The Forest Ranger had a cabin there, so I did not live in a tent that summer. He also had a horse at his disposal. He asked me to take the horse and ride up a canyon to the upper area where sheepherders tended their sheep. He had a report that day of a bear in the area. My horse got really spooked the closer we got to the sheepherder’s camp. The sheepherder reported that a sheep had been killed the night before by a bear. I wanted to get back, but he persuaded me to stay and eat dinner. It was dark when I got on the horse to return back down the mountain. The horse could smell the bear and was scared and was very skittish. Every shadow spooked him. I was thankful when we reached the cabin safely. During the three years I worked as a forest guard, I had many encounters with rattle snakes, which I killed. Rattle snakes are not good around public camp grounds where families and campers are staying. I also had many encounters with skunks. It was not uncommon to approach a trash can and discover a skunk had been feasting on the contents. I would knock the trash can over to allow the skunk to escape and go his way. We usually parted our ways with no incident. I do not recall ever being sprayed. However, there was one skunk that was very aggressive. Once I tipped the trash can over, he was not interested in moving on. He wanted to protect his new claim, so he charged me multiple times. We finally came to an impasse and he went his way. That was probably the closest I came to carrying a reminder of an encounter with a skunk around with me for a few days.
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During the third year as a forest guard, I had been given access to a car for my summer work assignment in Little Cottonwood Canyon. I realized that the brakes were wearing out and that the clutch was also wearing out. I called the dispatcher and asked that they send a wrecker to tow my vehicle down safely. He said just to come down carefully. I traveled down safely, but I was really scared. I had several different callings in the East Ensign Ward during this period of my life. I was asked to be the assistant scout master, which I enjoyed very much. I completed the Scouting program through becoming a Life Scout. I had completed thirty-two merit badges towards becoming an Eagle Scout. I only lacked the swimming and lifesaving merit badges. My sinus condition prevented me from placing my face in the water or from diving, both skills required in obtaining the two final merit badges for my Eagle Scout award. I have been active in scouting throughout my life. All four of our sons have obtained their Eagle Scout awards, and many of our grandsons also obtained this high rank in scouting. I started high school at West High School. I discovered my math teacher had known me when I was a little boy and had broken his windshield. I thought I would try out for football. I was in good health and was pretty athletic. During a game, a player from the opposing team came from behind me and tackled me on a full run and I went down with a full-face plant into the turf. I decided that maybe football was not for me. One evening after football practice I was going into the locker room and I read a notice that there would be tryouts for an Operetta. I had enjoyed singing in choirs, so I tried out for a part in the school operetta, “The Firefly”. I was chosen for one of the leads in the play. The show was a terrific success. I made the acquaintance with Steve Ostler, and after we finished the operetta, he offered me a job on his father’s ranch in Morgan County. Morgan is located on the east side of the Wasatch Range, almost due east of Kaysville. It is located in a beautiful and serene valley. We went to Morgan together and worked on the ranch. I finished that year of schooling at Morgan High School and took part in the choir and singing assemblies there. I really enjoyed working with my friend. The following summer I returned to my job as a forest guard in the canyons east of Salt Lake Valley. When it came time to return to West High School that fall, I decided to enroll at the University of Utah instead. My grades were better than a B average, so I was accepted at the University. I had been held back a year in the 1st grade and I felt a year of college would be more useful than a senior year of High School. I lived at home with my father while I attended college. I finished my first year of college and had my college credit applied back to get my High School diploma. I also went to work as a baker’s assistant during this time. I would work early in the mornings before my college classes, making bread, pastries and other baked goods to be sold during the day. I worked at the bakery until I was called on a mission. While I was going to U of U, I decided against my doctor’s will to take up swimming. I swam my last period of the day and was going to attend the Stake Priesthood meeting with my father that evening. I missed the bus I needed to take, so I decided to run and walk the five miles to the meeting house where the meeting was to be held. As we were sitting in the meeting, I began to feel sick, so my father took me home. The next morning, I was really sick, so my father took me to the emergency room at the hospital. By the time we reached the hospital, I was in a coma. The doctor told my father I may not come out alive. They began trying a new experimental drug called penicillin to fight the infections in my body. I remained in the coma for five days. During that time, I remember my spirit leaving my body on several occasions. The last time, I knew that if I left my body I would not be able to return. I awoke from the coma shortly after. I recovered and they sent me home from the hospital. It was Thanksgiving time and I was at Grandma
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Worsley’s home for dinner. I began to feel sick so I excused myself and went to lie on the couch while the others ate. When they came to check on me, my eye was swollen shut. They called the doctor and he came to Grandma’s house and he said I had a bad case of sinus infection. He operated the next morning and drained a cup of pus. A new opening was made from my sinus to my nose so that infection could be released. I was called up to report for the draft to serve in the armed forces about this time. I told them that I had a really bad sinus condition. They reviewed my medical records and then took X-Rays of my head and discovered the discoloration in the sinus cavities denoting infection and released me. As a result, I was classified as 4-F and rejected for the draft at that time. This gave me the opportunity to focus on serving a mission and I submitted my mission papers. Called to Serve: Missionary Life in Brazil I received a call to go to the Brazil Mission in May of 1947. There was no MTC at that time, so I reported to the Mission Home in Salt Lake City, UT for three days to receive general direction on personal hygiene, spiritual instruction from the General Authorities, and cultural information about the area I would be serving. I was then placed on a train and sent to Miami, Florida to await my visa. I served with the local missionaries in Miami until I was able to obtain my visa. At the end of August 1947, I received my visa and was placed on a ship that was to sail to Santos, Brazil. The accommodations on the ship were not the best. Once I was on board, the dock union workers called a strike at midnight and I was quarantined on the ship for twelve days while the union contract was being negotiated. It was very hot and humid and extremely uncomfortable in the living quarters we were assigned while the union tried to negotiate their terms. Business men, who were also on the ship, finally complained to the shipping company that they were being negatively impacted by the delays. The shipping company flew all passengers to Rio de Janeiro at the company’s expense, leaving the responsibility to each passenger to make their own connections once in Brazil. I was placed on a plane in Miami and arrived in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, not speaking any Portuguese and with no way to contact the Mission Home to let them know I had arrived. One of the passengers on the plane, who had also been on the ship with me, was a minister for the Baptist Church who was returning to Brazil after being in the USA for training. He recognized my distress and came to my aid. This good man took me to the train station where he helped me obtain a train ticket for 9:00 that evening that would get me and my baggage to Sao Paulo, where the Mission Home was located. He gave me instruction on how to
8 catch the right train, showed me how to store my baggage at the train station until that evening, and then gave me a little sheet of paper with instruction on how to order sopa de crangoa con arroz, which is chicken and rice soup, at a little restaurant across street. I followed his instructions and at 6:00 that evening was in line to get on the train heading to Sao Paulo. I was a gentleman and allowed the women to board first, only to see them open their windows and receive luggage from their husbands along the platform. By the time I was able to board, there were no seats and no luggage space. I traveled standing up for over half of the trip until 1:00 in the morning. A student took pity on me and allowed me to have his seat for the remaining distance. When I arrived at the train station in Sao Paulo it was six o’clock in the morning and I tried to call the Mission Home using a telephone, but the operators could not understand me, as no one spoke English. I was not having any success in communicating with anyone. Finally, about 11 o’clock, an English-speaking father walking by with his son heard me and came to my aid. I explained who I was and that I was trying to reach my Mission President. Within minutes, he had called the Mission Home and had the Mission President on the phone. The Mission President had been to the docks in Santos looking for me earlier in the week and was concerned that he had lost a missionary. He was very excited to find me. Within a very short period, missionaries were sent to pick me up. I knew that Heavenly Father had provided angels along the way to help me reach my mission. I also had a firm conviction that I needed to quickly learn the Portuguese language if I was going to be an effective missionary. I was only in Sao Paulo for a few short days. I was assigned to serve in Porto Alegre, the furthest point south in the mission, at that time. The trip to my first area of Porto Alegre took a week traveling by bus. We had chickens, pigs, and lots of baggage on the bus. The bus traveled part of the way along the sea shore, so wherever a river came into the sea, we had to unload the bus and cross the river separately from the bus. When I arrived in Porto Alegre, I was committed about learning my new language, so I diligently studied Portuguese early every morning along with my scriptures. We did not have set lesson plans, so we were left to use our own studies of the scriptures and the Spirit to teach those we interacted with. We had a missionary that played the organ for our Sunday services. When he was transferred out, after about six months, we had no music for Sacrament meeting. I had taken about three weeks of piano lessons before I left on my mission and could at least read music, so I devoted some of my time to learn how to play the hymns so that we had some music during our Sacrament meeting. I do not recall having any contact names. At the time I went to Brazil, there was one mission and about 500 members, most of them German speaking. Before the war, missionary efforts were mainly among the German speaking people. After the war, the missionary efforts were opened up to all Brazilians. After about six months the mission president was coming down to our area and we were sure that transfers would be made. I had been very diligent in studying my Portuguese and I could conduct meetings and give spiritual thoughts. So, I was somewhat conversant in Portuguese. Knowing that the mission president was coming to make changes, I did not let anyone know my feeling or concerns, nor what I desired. There was a six foot elder from California in our group who was very lazy and did not work hard. He was not very focused and was not doing much to be a good missionary. In my heart I prayed that I would not be placed with him. Sure enough, the Lord wanted me to learn a lesson of humility and patience. He became my companion and we served for a time. I had appendicitis in Brazil and so I was operated on in a hospital in Porto Alegre named Moyho de Vento meaning windmill. That was significant because I had a whole lot of wind after the surgery. While I was recovering from this operation, the mission president and his wife came down to visit in the area and they
9 brought their little baby girl with them. They asked me to babysit for them while they were making their visits. I took care of this little girl, even though I had never taken care of a baby before. I fed her, changed her diapers, and placed her to sleep. Then something terrible happened. I broke the diaper pin. There were no spare pins in the supplies that they had left. I just held her, with her diaper positioned to keep us both dry, until her mommy and daddy returned. When they came back they went to a store and picked up a new set of pins. I remember that the Mission President and his wife also had a small boy named Jeffrey who loved bananas. I remember that he could put a whole banana in his mouth at one time, especially with a little coaxing from the missionaries! There are other memories that I have of my time in Porto Alegre. I recall that my companion slept on one side of the room, and a short distance away, across the room, I slept in my cot. There was a bad rain storm one night and the window was open. During the night, a robber had come in through the window and robbed us of everything we had. When we awoke the next morning, and saw his muddy footprints left on our floor, which was larger than either of our feet, we could tell that he was a large man. He had quietly taken everything that he could carry. After eighteen months in Porto Alegre, I was transferred up to serve in Rio de Janiero. We had good and faithful members there, but they never introduced us to their friends and family. We tried to track out those that may be interested in hearing our message, but we could not find any investigators to teach. During the time I served in Porto Alegre and Rio, I never baptized any converts. I served in Rio for six months, and it was a very empty experience. I was then transferred to Sao Paulo where I served another six months. I was then called to be the Branch President of the Santo Amaro Branch. At the end of my mission I served as a District President in the Rebeirao Preito District. We learned that the BYU Basketball team was coming to Brazil to travel and play the Brazilian teams. They decided to have a men’s chorus of missionaries to perform during the halftime of the games. I was one of fifteen or sixteen missionaries that were asked to travel with the BYU team. We sang in Portuguese, both the national anthem and hymns. We traveled around Brazil with the BYU team for about 2 ½ to 3 months. With that we had the opportunity to speak with public officials, like the mayors, and newspaper people who interviewed us and we were able to tell what we were doing in Brazil. It was a great door-opener for the Church as we explained what we were doing as missionaries in Brazil. It was a wonderful experience and one that I truly enjoyed. In total, I labored for thirty-three months as a missionary in Brazil. I had mastered the Portuguese language, being able to speak, think and dream in that language. My mission experience was a treasured experience for me and I am thankful that I was able to have this experience. Coming home, I was given permission to do a little sightseeing with another Elder returning home. We toured the capitals of South America. I flew from Sao Paulo down to Buenos Aires Argentina, traveled over to Montevideo Uruguay, then flew from there over to Santiago, Chile, came up the coast to Lima, Peru and Panama City, Panama, on to Guatemala City, Guatemala and finally to Mexico City, Mexico. I was able to tour the ruins on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. I loved the Book of Mormon, so these ruins were very interesting to me.
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In Mexico City I caught a train and traveled up to San Francisco to see my mother and my sisters. I had not visited my mother for several years prior to my mission, as I was working with the Forest Service. When I arrived in mid-February 1950, I realized that my family had changed considerably since my last visit. My mother and all of my siblings had left the Church. Mona had married and divorced, then had married Lawrence Powell in 1947. My sister Elaine had already been married and divorced from her first husband. My little brother Doug was nineteen years old, and I had a step sister, Renee Christensen who was seven years old. I spent about a week with my mother and family members in the San Francisco area before I flew back to Salt Lake City. I returned home in late February or early March. My early months home after my mission were very difficult. It was difficult transitioning back to English and life outside of the mission. I also felt like I was carrying a dark cloud over my head after spending time with my mother. My mother had tried to damage my relationship with my father with her negative comments and judgment of him. She was a very bitter and angry woman. I found that I judged her for her negative and bitter feelings towards my father and for her decision to leave the Church and the covenants that she had made with my father. In those dark reflective moments, I realized that as much as I tried to understand or justify why she abandoned us when I was so young, I would never know all that my mother had been through. She must have felt abandoned during the early years of the Depression, with my father away from home and her left to care for the daily needs of the children. The recognition and success she achieved with her vocal performances was a constant reminder that she was only in her late twenties with insurmountable barriers to reach her dreams of singing professionally with the San Francisco Metropolitan Opera. I recall distinctly during one of these moments of reflection that the Spirit spoke to my heart and said, “Forgive her.” I humbled myself and accepted the Atonement and allowed my feelings of resentment towards my mother to be removed. I truly forgave her for both her unkindness to my father as well as her abandonment of me as a child. It was like the sun broke through all of the darkness of my soul and I found peace. A family of my own… I determined at this time that as I started to build my own life and seek an eternal companion that I wanted to find a woman who was committed to the covenants she had made with the Lord and someone who would love me and who would be true and faithful to me. I had seen the sorrow that my father had carried over the years after my mother had left. I also knew the sorrow that he carried from not being a part of his daughters’ and his youngest son’s lives. My mother and my siblings were not enjoying the fullness of the
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Gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives and I knew that they did not value the Church as my father and I did. I committed to always keep as my focus my covenants that I had made and to magnify any calling to serve in the Church that I might receive. That April, I attended the Brazilian Missionary Reunion with my father. We enjoyed the fellowship of the missionaries and prior mission presidents that had served in Brazil along with their families during the opening meeting session. I had worked hard that day and was tired, so after the opening session and before the social activities, I had determined to take my father home and to stay home myself. My father wanted me to stay for the dance and volunteered to walk home. I insisted on taking him home and he finally consented. Although I was tired and desired to stay home, my father encouraged me to go back and participate in the activities. I reluctantly gave in and went back to the reunion. What a blessing it was in my life, for there I met my sweetheart for the first time. I was attracted to her and wanted to meet her. I asked the gentleman standing by me if he knew who she might be. To my surprise, he reported that she was his niece. Her name was Barbara Emma Crane, the daughter of Arthur Willard Crane and Elizabeth Emma Crane born on December 15, 1922. Barbara was attending the reunion with her uncle and cousin because his daughter was serving in the Brazilian mission at the time. The missionary that was escorting Barbara around did not have a car, so I offered to take them both home. When we arrived at Barbara’s apartment, I also got out of the car and went in to talk to Barbara’s cousin who was already home from the reunion. I was able to obtain Barbara’s phone number from her cousin, and that started the ball rolling for a wonderful adventure. The circumstances of our meeting were more than chance, of this I am confident. Barbara was a returned missionary, having served in the North Central States Mission, and was working at the Beehive House in Salt Lake City. She was five years older than me and was such a confident and refined woman. We seemed so different. Barbara was patient as our friendship grew and soon our courtship evolved and I asked her to be my eternal companion. We were married for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake Temple on August 29, 1950 by the apostle, Joseph Fielding Smith. (Elder Smith had set Barbara apart as a missionary.) I was able to secure an apartment on Third South and Third East. She and I were both working for the first six months of our married life. Barbara worked at Auerbach’s Department Store at the millinery (hat) counter. I had started working for Sears after my mission as a salesman of Encyclopedias. This lasted only a short time. I then found work at a lumber yard. I finally ended up with a job as an extension clerk for Pacific Fruit and Produce and part time as a grocery checker for a large grocery chain in Salt Lake City. Barbara quit her job when she found out she was pregnant with our first child. One day I was called on by Pacific Fruit and Produce to go with a driver to deliver his load. As he was driving, he hit a low tree limb with the cargo box of the delivery truck. It stopped the vehicle immediately and I went through the windshield. I was seriously injured with cuts from broken glass on my face and forehead. I ended up with sixty stitches. I was laid up for over a month recovering from the accident. I never went back to work for Pacific Fruit and Produce, but searched for other employment. I was hired by Graybar Electric as a receiving clerk. I enjoyed this job and did well with it. About this time, I was called by the Draft Board to be revaluated. As I explained earlier, because of my sinus condition, I had been rejected with a 4-F classification before my mission. I had been revaluated after my mission and was again classified as a 4-F. This was during the onset of the Korean War. Barbara was about six months pregnant with our first child. During this revaluation, they succeeded in reclassifying me
12 to 1-A and I was therefore called up and ordered to report for duty. I asked for a temporary deferment since my wife was expecting. I was granted the deferment until a week after our baby daughter was born. Yvonne Emma Worsley arrived on August 17, 1951. I gave up our apartment, sold our car, quit my job and moved Barbara and our new little daughter to live with Barbara’s mother and father in Herriman, Salt Lake County, Utah. I felt I had done everything I could to take care of my young family during my expected absence, and called to report for duty. The date that I had been given to report for duty was actually on a Sunday. When I called to see if they really required me to report on a Sunday, I was told no and asked why I would have that date to report. After explaining that I had received a deferred date due to the arrival of our daughter, I was told to send in a copy of our marriage license and a copy of the baby’s birth certificate for evaluation. After about a week, I was notified that I would again receive a 4-F classification and would not be required to serve in the military. This was wonderful news, but we had to start all over again. I had to find work, locate an apartment and purchase a car. The Lord blessed us and we were able to quickly restart our lives together. I found an apartment in Salt Lake City again and started working for Pembroke Company as a receiving clerk. We were active in the North Eighth Ward and I was called to serve as an assistant Ward Clerk in charge of the financial and statistical records. I remember coming home from work one evening for dinner before I was to deliver financial reports to the Ward Clerk. Barbara had been to a doctor’s visit and she was very upset. She had discovered that she was pregnant with another child. She could not see how we could possibly afford another child. I did not want to leave her alone, so I suggested that she bring the baby and ride with me to deliver the report. When we arrived, the Ward Clerk and his wife, an older couple, could tell that Barbara was upset. When she explained why, this dear older Sister said, “Well you are married, aren’t you dearie?” We all laughed. Then the sweet Ward Clerk then told us: “The Lord never sends a little bunny without sending a little extra hay.” This gave us both great comfort. Within fifteen months after our first daughter was born, we were expecting the arrival of our second child. It was during the Presidential Elections of 1952. Barbara had experienced labor pains through the night and I took her to the hospital. After a while, the nurses instructed us to go home, informing us that the labor pains were not progressing. Barbara asked them to please keep the room available, as she was sure she was going to have a baby that day. I left the hospital with Barbara and we decided to stop and vote before going home. After we had voted, Barbara asked to go back to the hospital. We did, and our second daughter, Christine Barbara Worsley was born within a few hours. Dwight D. Eisenhower, a popular World War II General running for the Republican Party, was elected as the President of the United States. Barbara was happy that she had the chance to vote for her winning candidate. This was also my father’s 53rd birthday. Yvonne could not say Christine when we brought our new little girl home. She started to call her Tenee, and from there evolved Tina. At Home in Herriman: building a sure foundation of faith We were approached in the early part of 1953 by my father-in-law, Art Crane, about a home he was fixing up to sell in Herriman, Utah. Art had obtained a miner’s cabin that was located up Butterfield Canyon, in the Oquirrh Mountains southwest of Salt Lake City. He had moved the cabin down to the back of his property in Herriman, used the existing structure as a basic framework and constructed a small two-bedroom home. He was fixing it up to sell and offered it to us with little down and easy monthly payments. This was a wonderful opportunity for us and allowed us to be close to Barbara’s family. The little home was located
13 on 6057 W 13000 S in Herriman. We were able to build onto this starter home over the years, converting the one small front bedroom to a music room where the children could practice piano and violin. The expanded home eventually had three bedrooms, one for Barbara and me with a small attached half bath, and a room with two sets of bunkbeds for the boys and a room for the girls. We had a small barn and corral at the back of the property where we kept a jersey cow, Betsy. The older girls and Bob had the opportunity to care for and milk Betsy. The large fenced-in backyard also provided a garden area, several fruit trees, and a playhouse built by Art for the girls with real glass windows that opened, a Dutch front door and shingles. The playhouse had long benches and a little table for the inside furniture. Later, we built a dog kennel so Barbara could breed Pekinese dogs for puppies to sale to help support our family while I was attending BYU. Art and Lizzy Crane lived through the block, with their home on the corner of Main Street (13100 S) and 6100 W. They had barns, chicken coops and a large garden between our homes. Barbara´s grandmother, Jeannette Dansie Crane, lived next door to her son, Art. Barbara had several aunts and uncles that also lived close by. The small two-classroom pioneer schoolhouse where both Barbara and her father had attended school as children, was just a block away and provided a unique environment for our children to be taught during their elementary years. The LDS Chapel was next to the schoolhouse, with large open playgrounds and play fields between. Holidays were a time of community celebration. With such a strong extended family and a faith-based environment, Herriman proved to be a wonderful location to raise our growing family. Our family was very blessed to be so close to grandparents and extended family that loved our children and were a part of their lives. We welcomed our third daughter, Margo Worsley, to our young family on June 24, 1954. I remember when Barbara and I had our three daughters on a shopping trip to Salt Lake City. Yvonne and Tina were bundled up in little coats Barbara had made, with their red hair blowing in the breeze. Barbara was holding Margo, who was about six months old, in her arms. As we crossed the street, President David O’ McKay crossed our path. He stopped, shook hands and talked to the two little girls and then expressed to us what a beautiful family we had. Our first son, Robert Merrill Worsley, joined our family two days after Valentine´s Day on February 16, 1956. On August 5, 1958 we were excited to welcome another son, Daniel Eugene Worsley to our home. The following year, John Arthur Worsley was born on November 22, 1959. This sweet little baby struggled with health conditions early in his life. One winter night, he stopped breathing and Barbara worked with him until he was breathing again. She continued to provide breathing assistance while I frantically drove to the hospital down in the Salt Lake valley. John spent many days in the hospital under oxygen and was diagnosed with asthma. John struggled with his
14 health as a baby and as a young child. We were so blessed that the Lord allowed us to raise this sweet son. Our youngest son, David Wayne Worsley joined our family on May 17, 1961, completing our wonderful family. My father, Victor Worsley, was still living in Bountiful, Utah up on the avenues. We took time a few times each month to visit with my father at his home, where he would always have a wonderful meal prepared. The children would help him wash the dishes and clean the kitchen (bleach in hot water) and then everyone would take time for a short nap, including my dad. My father provided a great service of cutting my hair and our four little boys´ hair during these visits. The piano that my father had purchased for my mother so many years before was still in his home. We created new memories around that piano, as I would play a simplified version of Debussy´s “Clair de Lune” or my father would play and sing his favorite hymn, “More Holiness Give Me.” As Yvonne became older and skilled in her piano talents, she would gather the family and Grandpa Vic around the piano to sing together. These regular visits with my father were such a blessing for him to have family around, and it provided an opportunity for my children to know and love my father. I was approached shortly after we moved to Herriman to serve as a Regional Mission Leader to the minority speaking groups, the Spanish-speaking people in particular. I spent much of my time with the immigrant mine workers located in Bingham Canyon along the Oquirrh Mountains above Herriman and Lark, towards the Kennecott Copper Mines. These small communities included Copperfield, Highland Boy, Copperton and Bingham. We reached these remote branches by traveling through the Bingham Tunnel. I was able to learn Spanish to communicate with these good people. Their communities resembled their homeland, with small, humble tiled roofed homes with open courtyards and fountains. They had outside brick ovens where they would prepare their meals, grinding the corn with mallets for the hand- tossed tortillas. Barbara would travel with me with our growing small family. I served in the Salt Lake Valley regional mission for twenty-eight months and was released because of poor health. I became an outside sales representative for Pembroke about the time we moved to Herriman, selling Gestetner ink mimeograph machines directly to business owners along the Wasatch front, and periodically out of the area. This required long hours and much traveling throughout the area. I had the opportunity to
15 change employers in 1953 and took a position as a teller at the Walker Bank Branch in Riverton, Utah. This was a blessing, allowing me to be home with Barbara and our little family every night. About five years into my career with Walker Bank, the Riverton Branch was robbed twice by the same father and son team. I made the news as I was the bank teller robbed each time. The first time, the son came into the bank and pulled a gun on me, demanding money. They robbed the bank for about $2,800. A few months later, in February on a nice sunny day, the father came in and demanded money. I saw the man get out of his car with gloves on, which seemed odd and suspicious due to the sunny and warm day, so I took all of the $20 bills in the register (about $2,000) and hid the cash. When the father came in and said they were robbing the bank, the son came in and went to the vault and got a bag of nickels worth about $200, but upon exiting the vault, the bag of coins spilled all over. The father then locked everyone inside the vault gate (not inside the vault). He then went over to the registers and took the cash, but never saw the $20 bills that were stashed away. I had the vault key hid, so I unlocked the gate and let everyone out after the robbers left the bank. We had just bought a new Pontiac station wagon for the family, so I decided to follow the robbers. At times I was driving over 100 miles per hour, but instead of trying to keep up with their reckless behavior, often running stop signs, I decided to stop following them. The father and son team from Kearns, Utah went back and forth between California and Utah robbing banks. They were finally caught in California during a failed bank robbery, were prosecuted and served time. Music has always been dear to my heart. I enjoyed singing with groups, in choirs and as a soloist. I had the opportunity to often sing at weddings, during funerals, with Ward and Stake Choruses, and with regional performing choral groups, including the Boise Master Chorale. I thrilled at performing “The Messiah” and other music that bore testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. Our children demonstrated a love and interest in music early on. When my father moved to Arkansas, he left me my mother´s piano. It became a link to both my very talented mother and my dear father, not only for me but for my children. We tried to give our children an opportunity to have music lessons. Yvonne demonstrated an interest in and a talent for playing the piano, quickly becoming an accomplished pianist. She would accompany me during many of my performances in Church, at funerals and at weddings. She was terrific. Yvonne recalls when I would sing, standing behind her with my hand on her shoulders. Even to this date when the families gather, Yvonne will start playing and the family gathers around the piano to sing along. Our daughter, Tina, showed an interest in the violin. Her teacher would travel to Herriman to give her lessons. Yvonne would often accompany Tina on the violin for performances at Church and other functions. Yvonne and Tina also had the opportunity to sing with a Primary Chorus in the Tabernacle for one of the General Conference Sessions in 1963. Yvonne had the unique opportunity to play the Tabernacle Organ during one of the practices, as the accompanist was late for the practice.
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The boys all loved to sing as children. Barbara made little jackets and bow ties for them and they would sing at Church functions and other activities. On April 27, 1915 the church´s First Presidency encouraged a church-wide practice of a weekly “Family Home Evening”. President David O´ McKay later reiterated the promises of establishing a pattern of weekly Gospel study in the home. As young parents, Barbara and I took this counsel seriously. I would prepare lessons using my missionary flannel board and cutouts to teach my children the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Barbara would make cinnamon rolls or popcorn cakes for desert. We were consistent with our observance of family home evening and family prayer and scripture study. Yvonne recalled that the lessons Barbara and I taught in Family Home Evening were important to her and contributed greatly to her understanding and conversion to the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. These times with our family were important. Sometimes we had family council where we explored some of our problems. I remember one such family council. The girls were getting older and desired to have “purchased” clothes, like their friends. Barbara was a very skilled seamstress and made clothes for the children, and I suspect that the older girls were wanting to fit in more with fashion trends of the day. I took home my paycheck in currency. The family sat around the kitchen table and I handed out to them one ninth of the money. They were all amazed at so much money in their hands. We proceeded to pay our tithing, each child contributing one tenth of the money in front of them. From there we put in for our mortgage payment, our car payment, the budget amount needed for our groceries, our utilities, etc. When we got to the end there was no money to spare. This experience gave our children a real picture of our family finances. On another Sunday afternoon, we had some free time with the family. I was going to BYU at the time and taking a music appreciation class. I borrowed a record of the opera, “Madam Butterfly” to play for the children. I explained the plot of the story to them, and even though the lyrics were spoken in Italian, the children felt the emotions of the music. Barbara and I were very involved in finding the genealogy of our ancestors and taking those names to the Temple to perform ordinances for those that had passed on. Barbara would clean and press our sacred Temple clothing each week, preparing for our date night to the Salt Lake Temple. This was a special time for us to be together and we enjoyed the blessing of service for those family members that had completed their mortal journey. We often participated in family reunions with cousins and extended family. These were often held at Lagoon near Farmington, Utah; at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City, or even hosted by family members on their farms. At these reunions, talents and stories were shared along with new genealogy discoveries. One family reunion was held in Delta, Utah at the home of Uncle Max and Aunt Della Johnson. Uncle Max had lost
17 his arm when it became entangled in the hay bailer while he was harvesting hay. His oldest son, Eldon, was with his dad at the time and was able to get him to medical care, which saved his life. Aunt Della had a commercial bakery set up in their basement and would provide fresh cinnamon rolls every morning of the reunion. The older cousins were going to the nearby reservoir to go swimming on one of the days of the reunion while parents met about genealogy. Our children wanted to tag along and we had planned to let them go. However, the morning when all the cousins prepared to leave, I had to tell my children that they could not go with the other cousins to the reservoir. Of course, they complained and there was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth, especially for Yvonne and Tina as they were tweeners and really wanted to go with the older cousins. Our children ended up running through the sprinklers on Aunt Della´s front lawn. The cousins came home early, very emotional. Apparently, they all took off running across the top of the dam and one of them fell down, just short of an overflow shaft that dropped the height of the dam. It was such an emotional near-miss, that they all decided to return home. I became very emotional and explained to my children that I had been warned three times during the previous night that if I allowed my children to go, I would loss one of them. I was so thankful that the Spirit had warned me and provided an opportunity to keep my family safe. Barbara and I felt it was very important to create family memories through vacations and family activities. We had wonderful trips to California each year, while we lived in Herriman. These were times to visit with my mother and my siblings and their families. We would always go through Reno, Nevada, where Barbara´s sister Marge lived with her family. We would spend a day with Marge and her family, then head on to the San Francisco Bay area. The family will remember all the road trips that we took. We had a large station wagon with three rows of seats. As we would travel down the highway, cars traveling next to us would start counting heads. The children, almost on signal, would all hold up seven fingers. We enjoyed being together as a family. We also took many camping and fishing vacations with the children, teaching them to love and appreciate the world our Heavenly Father created. During the winter, we would go up Butterfield canyon for tubing and sledding excursions. I found a large round Coca-Cola sign that made a perfect saucer and could hold four kids. On one of these occasions, when Bob was only a few years old and bundled in a snowsuit, I was walking in the snow pulling the sled in one hand and holding onto Bob with the other, insuring he did not take off on the dangerous slope. Bob slipped on the icy snow and twisted completely around, breaking his arm. There were many community celebrations in Herriman. For Herriman Days each year, we would have a parade down Main Street. The children would decorate their bikes and tricycles, dress up and ride them in the parade. One year, Barbara made a little white suit for Dan, who had beautiful blond curly hair. We borrowed an old pair of spectacles from Grandpa Art, and then we gathered empty Kentucky Fried Chicken buckets to make a little float for the parade. Danny was Colonel Saunders, eating a chicken leg. I had worked from the time I was an early teenager and wanted to install this love of work in my children. All of the children had chores around the home and when they were old enough, they all found jobs and would save towards their future education and missions. We taught them the principle of paying tithing and fast offerings and the blessings that come from being obedient. Our family was also very self-sufficient. I would help Barbara can vegetables from our garden, as well as sweet peas we would gleam from the fields close to Herriman. We would purchase fresh peaches, apricots, apples and pears from Utah Valley to the south and can them or make jelly. To help provide meat for my family, I would hunt just south of Herriman on Mount Nebo every fall. Barbara would go hunting with me and we would always bring home two mule
18 deer. My father or Barbara’s mom and dad would stay with the children for the three or four days we would hunt. We would bring the deer home, hang them for a week, and then butcher them for meat during the winter months. Betsy, our little jersey cow, provided both milk and cream for butter. The children remember churning the butter with a hand-cranked churn. We also raised young steers and would have them butchered in the spring. I enjoyed fishing and the taste of fresh trout. Barbara was a wonderful sport and would go fishing with me, even after the children had all grown up and moved from home. After I was released from my calling with the Salt Lake Valley regional mission, I was called to serve on the High Council of the West Jordan, Utah Stake. On September 18, 1960, the stake was divided and I was called to serve as the Second Counselor to President John Harold Berrett in the newly organized Riverton, Utah Stake. President Berrett served for a short time, but requested to be released when his wife, Stella, became very sick. The First Counselor, Leonard C. Beckstead, was called to be the new Stake President and I was called to be his First Counselor. I never heard from anyone about the new stake reorganization until the morning of stake conference when the change was made and I was announced as the new First Counselor over the pulpit. This calling provided a great opportunity to serve and love others in the stake. I recall one occasion when I was an instrument of comfort for a grieving young family in our Stake. This young couple lived on the highway between Riverton and Herriman. During a holiday celebration with family, their toddler ran out of the front yard and into the street to be struck by a passing car. The family was devastated. On the day of the funeral, there was a terrible storm. I recall asking the Lord to please temper the elements for this sweet couple and their family. As the funeral ended, sunbeams came through the window of the Chapel and there was a distinct break in the clouds, just over the Chapel. As we moved to the waiting vehicles, we could see the downpour of rain all around us, but the heavens just above us were stilled for this grieving family. That break in the clouds followed the family to the cemetery, lasting until the graveside services were complete and the family was back in their cars, when the rains again returned in full force. Another opportunity we had while I was serving in the Stake Presidency in Riverton was to host our visiting General Authorities for a lunch between the Stake Conference sessions. (We used to have two sessions on Sunday, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.) This assignment was rotated among the members of the Stake Presidency. In March of 1963, Barbara and I were to host for our visiting general authority, President Joseph Fielding Smith of the Quorum of the Twelve and his wife, Jesse Evans Smith. Barbara’s mother and father were gracious and took our six younger children during the break, while Yvonne stayed to help her mother get the meal ready. This kind act of service by her parents allowed Barbara and I to enjoy a lunch at our home with President and Sister Smith along with the other members of the Stake Presidency and their wives.
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After lunch, President Smith asked if he could lay down for a short rest before we headed back for the afternoon session. I invited him to lay on one of the bottom bunks in the boys’ room. When President Smith became Prophet, Bob would recall that he lent the Prophet his bed to rest. At this time I was working at Walker Bank as a loan officer. I knew that there were no opportunities to move ahead in management there, due to my lack of a college degree. Barbara and I prayed about options and we considered me going back to school to complete my education and prepare for better employment opportunities that could support our family with future missions, education, weddings and Church service opportunities. I then contacted President Joseph Fielding Smith and asked if it would be appropriate for me to be released from the Stake Presidency, as I knew my time would be stretched with school, study, work and my family responsibilities. President Smith said that I had served honorably and should be released from my calling and focus on getting my education. He said that I could be a better provider for my family and be of greater service to the Church in the future if I would make the necessary sacrifices. This has proven to be prophetic. I was very humbled to receive this direct counsel from an Apostle of our Lord. Barbara and I prayed about such a drastic course of action, and both felt that we needed to follow the counsel we had received. I spoke with my manager at Walker Bank and was given the opportunity to work part- time (30 hours/week) while I attended BYU. I was also able to obtain the janitorial contract to clean the bank on weekends. The children will remember helping clean the bank, and riding on the big floor buffer as we waxed and shined the floors. I began pursuing my education at BYU concentrating in accounting in the summer of 1963. This was a great sacrifice for our young family. I was not able to attend all of the family activities and functions while juggling between work to support my small family, study and attending classes at BYU in Provo. My sacrifices did not compare to the great sacrifices of my dear wife and children. Barbara was an amazing seamstress and repurposed clothing given to her to create clothing for our daughters and sons. She was a master at stretching the paycheck and creative budgeting. The children were young and she was their sole nurse and caregiver during those years. Yvonne, then at age twelve or thirteen, milked our family cow morning and night. Tina also learned to milk Betsy and care for her calf, Tandy. As Bob became older, he joined in the chores with the evening milking. The children were a great support and very helpful with their chores to help Barbara. My last year of classes required me to attend classes in the evening, so I would go to work, then drive to Provo to attend classes, stay overnight with LaMar Berrett and his family (a professor in the Religion Department), get up early the next morning and drive to work in Riverton. Often, I would only see my children on the weekend. I did have the opportunity to allow Tina and her good friend Jill Butterfield to attend summer classes offered at BYU for student´s families. Tina and Jill took typing and dance classes, while I took my accounting and business classes one summer term. Tina often said that her opportunity to visit the campus at that young age influenced her desire to do well in school so that she could return to BYU when she was older. During my last year in school, Yvonne started having very bad headaches. She was fourteen at the time and lost the use of her left-side of her body for over a week. We took her to the Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City where they did testing and x-rays to discover that she had a tumor on her brain. I called President Joseph Fielding Smith from the hospital and asked if he would be willing to help me give my little girl a blessing. He had us come directly to his apartment. I carried Yvonne up to the apartment where she was given a beautiful blessing. After, we were visiting with President Smith and his wife, Jesse Evans Smith, when Sister Smith told Yvonne that she wished she felt better as she would have enjoyed having
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Yvonne play for her to sing. Yvonne said she was okay and went to the piano and there accompanied Sister Smith as she sang “He That Hath Clean Hands and a Pure Heart.” Barbara and I were both in tears. When Sister Smith asked if we were okay, we explained that our sweet daughter had not been able to use her left hand for over two weeks, let alone try to play the piano. Sister Smith said, “Well, I guess we have all just seen a miracle.” And a miracle it was. When we returned the following week to have additional tests and x-rays, the mass was gone. The doctors were totally baffled. They showed us the x-ray from the week before, compared to the current one, and there was no tumor. This was a great testimony of faith and the healing powers of the Priesthood for our family. I graduated from BYU in December of 1965 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting. I had completed the courses required for this degree in just over 2 ½ years and received an award for excellence. Walker Bank only offered me minimal pay increase with my degree, so I started to interview with other potential employers. Ernst & Ernst, one of the large CPA firms at that time, had an opening in Portland, Oregon and one in Boise, Idaho. The family took a road trip to Portland to explore the community. Barbara and I then traveled to Boise and made the decision that this would be the community to move our family. I accepted an offer and was hired by Ernst & Ernst CPA firm. Establishing deep roots in Boise, Idaho I reported to Boise to start work, and then returned a few weeks later to Herriman to bring Barbara and our family to their new home. We came in the winter driving a Pontiac station wagon and towing a rental trailer. It was Bob´s birthday, February 16, 1966. We arrived in Boise without a place to move into, and after four or five days living in a motel, we were able to rent a home on Hill Rd. We did our best to settle in and to be active in the 9th Ward of the Boise North Stake. It was not long until our children were attending school at Hillside Junior High, Pierce Park Elementary, and later Capital High School. They were also active in the Ward youth and primary activities. I got into my work as a Certified Public Accountant. I was not at that time certified so I spent a lot of time studying the materials so I could pass the four-part exam. I sat for the exam and passed part of the exam with a good grade so I was qualified to sit for repeated parts of the examination. My work took me out of town to perform audits at livestock yards, Potato processing plants, Banks, Credit unions and also in some idle time I was expected to prepare tax returns. The work was interesting and rewarding financially. We lived in the home on Hill Road for about a year when our land lord came to Barbara and me and offered to sell his home around the corner at 5306 Castle Drive, Boise, ID. We agreed to buy the home for $17,000.00. It was partially finished so we went to work and finished the basement, so we now had three bedrooms upstairs, and three bedrooms down stairs. We had only one and a half baths upstairs. I look back and wonder how we managed with only one and a half baths for our seven children, my wife and my self. For the most part, I enjoyed my job as a CPA. I did have some conflict with the managing partner of our office. He did not like Mormons so he looked for opportunities to belittle me. As an example, when we had our weekly training meetings in a hotel conference room, I always turned my coffee cup over as an indication that I did not want coffee. He ridiculed me privately, but often. I was assigned to help with the audit of the First National Bank. My assignment was to audit the controller of the bank. As I performed the audit I discovered cases where he had paid for personal expenses, not
21 connected with his bank work. I also found that he was handling large sums of money without any supervision or oversight. I included in my reports that he was at risk to the bank and that independent auditors should check his department regularly, at least quarterly. When my report was reviewed by our managing partner, he said that we could not include that in the report, and asked that I change my report. I refused and stood on the results of my audit. The audit report was sent to San Francisco to the regional headquarters for the CPA Firm. They also sent back and wanted me to change my report. Again, I refused to change, so the report went in as originally written. A year later there was an internal audit and the controller was arrested and charged for stealing money. Many of the shareholders brought a class action against the CPA firm charging them with neglect for not identifying the potential risk due to lack of oversight. When they came to me, I reminded them that we had it in the notes that this person was in a position to abscond, and should be reviewed. It was good that I would not compromise my findings. After five years of continually being harassed by my managing partner about my religion, I decided to seek other employment. I was hired by The Woman’s Clinic in 1971 as their business manager. They paid me well and I enjoyed it for a season. When I arrived to the Clinic the first day, I sensed there were some strange things about the way the previous manager was handling the funds. I took control of the money bags, and started to audit. I discovered that she had taken over $30,000.00 that I could identify. She had destroyed the receipts and manipulated the records. We turned the case over to the Prosecuting attorney with my audit of the records. She was prosecuted and served three years with the requirement that she repay the doctors. The doctors encouraged me to further my training. I had opportunity to take courses and training in Hawaii and Barbara went with me. I had several other training sessions in various places, and when I went I always took Barbara with me. When Tina graduated from Capital High School, she started to work at the Woman’s Clinic as a relief receptionist, in billing and as a lab assistant. It was a delight to travel back and forth to work with my daughter. Even when she returned from school at BYU, she would return and help out with the relief work while our employees took their vacations. She worked during the summers to earn enough for the next year at BYU. I was also able to provide opportunities for the boys to work on projects associated with the Woman’s Clinic. They helped paint a facility close to the clinic. The Woman´s Clinic was required by law to provide for abortions. This was difficult for me. I met with each patient to discuss the costs and legal documents to support the procedure, but also to offer alternatives, such as adoption. Tina met a couple in Provo, Utah while she was working with Cleon Skousen who had tried for over ten years to adopt a child and start their family. Tina introduced the couple to me, and on Mother´s Day, this couple was able to come up to Boise and meet a little daughter who had been born the night before, saved from the fate of abortion because of alternatives she was offered. Many lives were blessed because of that courageous young girl´s decision to go ahead and have the baby. When I was working at the Woman's Clinic, I did accounting and tax work for the doctors and some of their investment enterprises. They had invested in a Pack-in business, taking tourists up into the high mountains with horses and guides. After some time they offered to take me and my four boys on one of their excursions. When we arrived at the base camp the supervisor asked which of us had the most experience with horses. We looked around and decided that I was the one. He told me that the horse that he was giving me had to be controlled and I would be responsible for the safety of others, since my horse would join in racing with
22 other horses that my sons would be riding. H said that if the other were running my horse would run over the top of the other horses and injure the riders and their horses. We had a good time and there were no mishaps. We often took opportunity to go camping and fishing with our family. One time we camped in the Bear campsite. We left there and decided to take a trip home by going down into Hells Canyon over Klineschmidt grade. It was very steep and did not have but one lane. We arrived close to the bottom when I hit a rock and bent the fly wheel cover against the fly wheel. We arrived at the road and started home on paved road. We stopped at the Snake River to try our hand fishing. I got a nice trout, about eighteen inches long. What a ride. On another camp out trip we went to Stanley, Idaho to go fishing and to camp out. We arrived late, set up our tent and went to sleep. When we awoke there were two inches of snow on our tent and on the ground. Stanley was always one of my favorite fishing trips. Barbara and I took great satisfaction that our children were involved with their school and Church activities. Many of them participated in the Capital High School Choir. We attended all the concerts they were involved in. The boys were also very active in Boy Scout activities and I had the opportunity to be their scout master. I was very active in scouting. We held overnight camps faithfully every month all year around. On one occasion we had a pioneering merit badge conducted at our home. We built and latched a tall tower in the back yard and built a bridge across the canal while the water was running. That was something special. The boys also created a sport of surfing the canal. We took a large sheet of plywood and put a hole at the top to run a rope. The rope was tied to the fence on the bridge over the canal. The boys would then tighten the rope and hold on, standing on the board and riding the current back and forth. Our family had the opportunity to invite a young Native American into our home under the Lamanite Placement Program of the Church. Curtis Blackbird lived with us during the school year, and then would return home to his reservation in Omaha, Nebraska. We had Curtis for three years, beginning in 1969 when he was twelve. In the summer of 1972 we drove through Omaha on our way to visit with my father who was then living in Little Rock, Arkansas. We had let Curtis know which day we would be trying to find him, but were not sure of the time. As we were driving along a straight stretch of road, we saw a large tree off the side of the road. We looked closely, and there in that tree was Curtis, watching for our family station wagon. He took us back to meet his family in their very humble home. Curtis returned to be with us that year, but the following year his grandmother had him stay on the reservation as he was old enough to start helping earn money for the family. We lost touch with Curtis over the years. However, we learned that Curtis became a police sergeant and was just recently killed in an automobile accident while on duty on March 26, 2017 at the age of 59.
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Our family was involved with many community activities. We worked on several major floats together for the Fourth of July Parade in Boise. One year the theme centered on the soldiers raising the flag on Iwo Jima. Another year we created a huge scroll of the Declaration of Independence. Other family times included the involvement of our family in Ward choirs and supporting our kids in their Stake Youth musical productions and roadshows. I also had the opportunity to sing with the Boise Master Coracle. That was a thrill. We prepared and performed The Messiah for at least two or three Christmas seasons. I sang with this group until I was called to be Bishop. I felt very strongly about providing our children with an opportunity to obtain a good education. All of our children graduated from Capital High School in Boise, Idaho. Each of them excelled in their areas of interest. Some of them were good students, some more focused on developing talents, but all actively participated with school activities and enjoyed this time in our home. When Yvonne graduated from High School she wanted to go to Ricks College (now BYU of Idaho) in Rexburg. She had received a Seminary Scholarship and had saved some money. We agreed to help her with her education for the first year. It was a great learning experience for her and for us. She came home and wanted to go back, but we declined. Shortly after this she met Douglas Ulrich and soon they were married. Yvonne, years later, went back to school through a program offered by her employer (Salt River Project) and finished her course work for a Bachelor´s Degree. Tina also sought a higher education and accepted a scholarship at the Brigham Young
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University, Provo, Utah. She did well and maintained her scholarship for the first two years. She worked for me at the Woman's Clinic during her summers to earn money for the following semester, and had employment on campus in the Religion Department during the school year working for W. Cleon Skousen. She was able to save enough money and support herself during the school year that she did not need much assistance from us. Tina graduated in Accounting and Finance from BYU, Provo. She went on to work on her Master´s Degree at the University of Idaho and at the University of California in Berkley. Margo also attended college for one year at Boise State College. She met Gary Calvert after her first year and got married. Very shortly after they were married, Margo and Gary moved to Germany where he was stationed with the air force for five years. Robert went to Brigham Young University, Provo for one year before his mission. He returned to school and graduated in Accounting. Dan attended the University of Idaho in Moscow for one semester, while he was providing service to his sister Tina. Tina was expecting their fourth little one and she had toxemia, requiring her to stay down. Tom was traveling with his new job and the doctors did not want Tina alone with the three little ones, as she would frequently pass out. Dan lived with Tina and Tom and took classes during the day, returning to give assistance in the evenings until just before the baby (Trisha) was born. He returned to Boise and attended Institute Classes at Boise State. There he met Lori whom he married. Dan later started his own business. John also attended Brigham Young University, Provo on a partial scholarship and graduated with a Master’s Degree in Accounting/Taxation. David attended College for three years, but decided not to graduate. He became quite an entrepreneur, starting first a firewood business on the empty lot by our home on Castle Drive, then moving to Portland where he started a restaurant. Later, he started a used car business, supplying most of the family with great deals on vehicles. We have been proud of each of our children as they have succeeded in their personal careers and successfully taken care of the needs of their families. I received several opportunities to serve in Church callings in Boise. I served as a Scout Master multiple times and served as an early morning Seminary Teacher for several years. In 1970 I was called to serve on the High Counsel of the Boise North Stake under President Vaughn J. Featherstone. I recall him asking the High Counsel to read Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. He told us that the teachings of forgiveness and learning not to judge another were so strongly taught in that novel. I have loved this story, and the musical, ever since. In 1972 when the Boise North Stake was reorganized after President Featherstone received his call to be 2nd Counselor of the Presiding Bishopric, I was called to serve as Stake Executive Secretary to President Ted Peck. I served in that calling for about five years and was then called to be Bishop of the 22nd Ward on April 17, 1977. My service as a Bishop was very intense and rewarding. I enjoyed the opportunity to interview our youth and to counsel with those who had special needs. Most of these sacred experiences cannot be included in this writing. I will tell of one occasion when Barbara and I were returning from the garbage dump. As we rode along Hill road, I was prompted to stop at the home of a widow. She was thrilled to have a Bishop call on her. She had never had a bishop call on her at her home. After a few moments I sensed that the mood was changing, so I invited my dear wife to wait in the truck. This Sister said she did not care if Barbara should hear. I excused Barbara with a comment that these sacred moments were to be kept in strict confidence. She opened up and confessed an indiscretion before her marriage. After this I explained that she was forgiven. She said that it felt so good, why did I wait so long. This is a real testimony that the atonement of Christ is true and that it works. The Savior said that he would bear the burdens of our sins. Another testimony that sins not confessed are a burden to those that carry them.
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Another sweet memory I have during the time I was serving as Bishop was when I assisted Scott Beard and his wife with planning to move out of their home on the top of the hill off Hill Road. They were moving to an apartment in the valley due to their poor health, age, and the poor and treacherous roads winding up to their home during the winter months. They sold their home, but then the sale fell apart. A week later, Scott shot his wife and then himself. There was so much stress on this sweet man trying to care for a weak and failing wife, that I felt very strongly that due to his state of mind, he would be not be judged harshly by the Savior. I was asked to conduct the funeral. The closing prayer was given by one of Scott’s cousins, none other than our own one-armed man, Max Johnson from Delta, Utah. It was a sweet connection to make after so many years.
Barbara’s father and mother came to live with us in Boise in 1979. They were both failing in their health and we had the opportunity to provide care for them. By this time, the only ones still at home were John and David. They stayed with us until the fall of 1981, and John took them back to Herriman on the plane as he was returning to Provo for school. They both died the following year in their home in Herriman. Lizzy died 6/7/1982 at the age of 86 and Art died the next month on 7/12/1982. Art loved Lizzy so very much and just wanted to be there to take care of her until she graduated. His example of love and devotion to his wife was always such a great example to me. One day I was helping a friend with his taxes. He told me that he had to sell two four-plexes or lose his marriage. I offered to buy them as an investment. Our children will remember these four-plexes, since it gave them an opportunity to work and also get training on how to make repairs. I also encouraged our sons to invest in trailer homes and rent them to provide income during their mission. We had a trailer home on the back of our lot that we rented out, and where my father came to stay after our mission. Tom and Tina rented a trailer for one year that John had purchased before he left on his mission. I encouraged our children to look for good investment opportunities. I left the clinic after ten years working with the group of doctors. I started my CPA practice in 1981. My work was mostly doing taxes. I formed two Corporations, Associated Tax Processors of Idaho and Merrill E. Worsley, CPA, PA. At this time the IRS started electronic filing of tax returns. I applied for EIN number and was assigned 820001, the very first electronic tax filer in the state of Idaho. My office was located at 7025 Emerald St, Boise, ID 83704. I commenced being a service bureau for other accountants, preparing computer generated tax returns for those that did not want to prepare them in-house. My mother, Emma May Forsyth Worsley Christensen, died on August 20, 1985 in Mountain View, Santa Clara, California. I went to her funeral with my wife. Over the years, Barbara and I had traveled to California with our family to visit with my mother and siblings and their families. We would be entertained by my brother, Victor Douglas Worsley and Charmaine, his wife and Margaret Elaine Smurphat, my sister, and her husband Curly. They would entertain us in their homes and in taverns. They did the best they could, as we did not live a lifestyle that was common for them and we did not smoke or drink. It was striking to us and to our children to see the stark difference of their lives and our life, living in a home centered on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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Faithful generations rolling forward Barbara and I have been blessed to see our children grow to adulthood and make sacred covenants in the House of the Lord. Our family has grown from our seven wonderful children, to an additional seven incredible helpmeets, 27 grandchildren, 92 great-grandchildren, 1 great-great grandchild and counting!
Yvonne and Douglas Ulrich were married 24 November 1971 in the Idaho Falls Temple. They have five children, three boys and two girls. Christine (Tina) married Thomas Cheney, a friend she had known since we first moved to Boise, on the 5th of May 1975 in the Salt Lake City Temple. They have five children, two boys and three girls. Margo met Gary Calvert at an Institute dance and married him on 29 June 1973 in the Salt Lake City Temple. They have five children, two boys and three girls. Robert served a mission to Uruguay/Paraguay. Robert met Christie Marie Armstrong when he returned and married her 16th Dec 1977 in the Idaho Falls Temple. They have six children, one boy and five girls. Daniel served a mission to Ireland. Daniel met Lorilee Nelson and married her 18 May 1983 in the Salt Lake City Temple. They had no children biologically, but later adopted two boys. John served a mission to South Africa. When he returned, he met and married Paula Brower in the Idaho Falls Temple on June 22, 1984. They have one boy and three girls. Our youngest son, David, served a mission to Michigan. When he returned, he met Zina Lucinda Bendshadler and they were married 11 July 1984 in the Boise Idaho Temple. They have two children, a boy and a girl.
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Answering a second call to serve: Recife, Brazil
Barbara and I received a call to serve a mission to Brazil, Recife mission in August 1989. When Barbara and I left our home for the Brazil Recife Mission, we had to say goodbye to our children, our grandchildren and my aging father who was living in Arkansas. We were concerned for them, but we knew that they would be all right. I sold my CPA practice to a friend and he was to pay me a percentage of the fees he collected. I started taking my Social Security Retirement at this time. Barbara and I always paid our tithing on the gross check, not the take home pay. Because of this we determined that we would not need to pay tithing on our Social Security checks. We were in the Missionary Training Center when a massive earth quake hit the bay area. We were concerned for Tina and Tom and their families who were living in Walnut Creek, located in the bay area. We made contact with them and were assured that they were all right. We had not received our visas to enter Brazil so we were temporarily assigned to serve in the Tampa Florida Mission. After a couple of months we got our visas and proceeded to Brazil.
Our first area where we served was in Aracaju, Atalia. We were sharing an apartment with two Brazilian Sister Missionaries. They were to be with us until we became oriented in our mission. We needed to know where the grocery store was, where the Bank was located, the bus system, etc. After a month they were reassigned and we were on our own. Our principal work was to re-activate less active members and to give new member discussions. We worked hard, an average of 50 hours a week. Barbara had problems with her skin so we had to see a skin doctor. He was helpful. Barbara continued to work with me as I taught. She was unable to learn the language. In the middle of January 1990, the heat and humidity was very hard on her. We were only able to work one week for 38 hours. We did see some success with reactivation of members. We were in Aracajo for six months. We received a visit from Tom Cheney, our daughter Tina’s husband. His work took him to South America, so he came to visit us.
On the 24 May, 1990, we were transferred to Caruaru, Perrmanbuco. This was a better place for us since the climate was more agreeable, cooler and less humidity. We were put in the upstairs of the building that was used for our branch meetings. It was not an apartment, just a place for us to sleep and do our work. In our report to our mission President, my wife said, we are happy to be in Caruaru. We taught new converts and taught some investigators. One in particular was about five miles from our residence.
When we started with her she said that she was convinced from her studies of the Old Testament that the Sabbath was on Saturday. We told her that we would address that issue when the time was right. We gave the first discussion about the restoration and the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. We challenged her to read the Book of Mormon and to pray about our message. We gave her specific assignment to read parts of the Book of Mormon. We came back a week later, and she reported that she had read all of the assignments and she knew the Book of Mormon was true. We continued to teach her for a couple of weeks. Barbara was complaining that we were wasting our time. I told Barbara that the spirit had guided us and that she was golden. That evening she told us of a dream she had received and wanted us to help her know what it was about. She dreamed of a tank filled with water, and the water was so clean and clear and they were baptizing in the tank. She looked into the water and saw big stones, and she said in her dream take out the stones so I can be baptized. She asked what the dream meant. I asked her what the stone was that was keeping her from being baptized. She thought a moment then said the Sabbath Day. I told her that we were now ready to answer the question. I explained that the Jews had so desecrated the Sabbath that he had to start a new program to worship. Christ was resurrected early on the morning of the first day of the Jewish calendar. That day was called the day of the Lord. Eight days later on the first day of the week Christ visited the Apostles and others and they blessed the Sacrament. This became the Day of The Lord (a new
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Sabbath Day). She said oh, now I see. When can I be baptized? She was baptized in the tank behind the Branch meeting house with her daughter. When we took her to the font she said that the font was the same one she had seen in the dream. We have been back from our mission for twenty years. Claudecia Tabosa still sends me e-mails. She is firm in the gospel. Her children were all baptized, the son served a mission as did her daughter. The daughter also served a mission in Porto Alegre Mission. They have all married in the temple.
The work of teaching and loving the less active was more difficult than the previous area. We were blessed with some success. We spent our time working with and teaching new members who needed to be nurtured in the Gospel. Our total hours worked each week was about 50 hours. We had some stomach illness in Caruaru. We and the missionaries had the same bug. We were sick in bed for half of the week. We were warned to not eat pork or shrimp. Regularly we were served dinner or lunch by the investigators or the members. We did not always know what meat was in the beans and rice. One time I ate some and afterwards found out that they had cooked pork in the beans. We had a short bout with dysentery. We also had to be careful with the water we drank. We had to buy bottled water. However, when we went out to eat with the members they did not have purified water, so that was a constant hazard.
On July 10, 1990, our daughter Tina, and her husband, Tom surprised us with a short visit. Barbara and I had been out in the country teaching a family. Barbara seemed very anxious and wanted to get back to our apartment. She told me that Tom and Tina were coming and she wanted to be there when they arrived. Caruaru is out in the middle of nowhere. I was concerned that Barbara was becoming delusional. We had not heard any indication that Tom would be traveling again on business to South America, and we certainly had no reason to ever believe Tina would be traveling with him. We arrived home and within just ten minutes, we heard someone clapping outside our gate (the traditional way to knock). You can imagine my surprise as I went to the front door to see Tom and Tina there clapping on the sidewalk. Barbara came running out towards them, and as she passed me, she smiled as if to say, “I told you so!” They brought the sad news that our son Dan and his sweet wife Lori had lost their triplets. This broke our hearts, as we knew how long this couple had prayed and desired to have a family. (The Lord blessed our dear son many years later when Dan and Lori were able to start their family through the blessings of adoption. They adopted two wonderful sons and were sealed as a family for time and all eternity.) Tom and Tina spent the weekend with us and then returned home. Barbara said it was a blessing for her to have Tom and Tina visit at that time, and gave her the strength to go on with our mission. It was very difficult for her not understanding the language and not being able to express herself to others.
On the 1st of November 1990 we were transferred to Petrolina for the last three months of our mission. We were put up in a hotel that was owned by a member. We were served breakfast in the morning and if we did not have an appointment with a member we would eat there in the evening. We were more aware of the water danger to Americans in this city. We got a water filter that uses a central filter unit. We filled up the water to be filtered, and very little came through the filter. We examined the filter unit and found that it was covered with a slime, which compromised the filter. And this is what we were drinking? We resolved to not drink the water from the faucets in the hotel.
One special experience we had in Petrolina that still touches my heart and brings tears. We were assigned to teach or try to reactivate a brother who held the Melchizedek and his wife. One evening we went to the home and we were welcomed and I taught the couple. At the conclusion of my training the father of the home said, observing my wife with their son of four or five years, He said that it must be hard for your wife not to be able to talk and participate in the lessons. I replied that this was very difficult for her. Then he said,
29 you bring the message, but she brings the love. What a precious observation. Barbara was a very important part of the mission. She showed the love wherever we were serving. We were treated with great respect and love in our mission. There were tears of sorrow that we were leaving Brazil, especially in Caruaru, and Petrolina.
In all the comments of my review of my life, I have failed to express my feelings for our Heavenly Father who looked after us. One night while we were in Caruaru, we were returning from teaching late in the evening, at about 11:00 PM. As we left the bus and started to go to our apartment, I was warned that two men were following us. Instead of the normal way we took another route and they did not follow us. We hurried and unlocked the first gate and entered and then locked the gate. We then proceeded to the chapel, unlocked the door and entered in and again locked the door We did not turn on the lights, but went up to our apartment. We could look out our windows without anyone outside observing us. Very soon we saw these two men walk past our door. We were grateful for the warning and the guidance we received.
There is so much more that we could tell you of our mission to Brazil. This was a season of spiritual growth, preparing us for future events. We were blessed for serving our mission and we recognize those blessings.
Returning home and saying goodbyes
When we returned home we stopped at the home of my father in Yellville, Arkansas. My father had lived alone for many years. We enjoyed the visit, and were happy that he had enjoyed reasonably good health. We observed that he was being scammed by solicitations from all kinds of charities and also promotions that he would get some money if he invested. We counseled him that he had to stop this crazy financial activity and that charity begins at home. He did not have a lot of money but we knew that he would be broke if he did not stop this.
We returned home and started our lives at home. I went to my office and started to prepare myself to start a new tax practice. I found out that my friend who had purchased my tax practice had ignored the less lucrative clients. I contacted them and they came to me when they found that I was home. I started to rebuild a tax practice. We once again commenced visiting our children and their growing families as time and circumstances permitted. Our children were living all around the United States. Yvonne and Doug were living in Mesa, Arizona, as were Robert and Christi, Dan and Lori and John and Paula. Tina and Tom were living in San Francisco, California; Margo and Gary were living in Vancouver, Washington and David and Zina were living in Portland, Oregon.
Three months after we arrived home I received a telephone call from a bank employee at my father's bank. She told me that Victor had come into the bank to draw out $5,000.00 from his savings. She had asked him if this was for a family member. He said that it was not for them. She asked if he knew this person. Again his answer was no. She called the Sheriff and he questioned my father and told him that this was a scam and not to proceed. I then instructed the bank employee not to give him any money, and that I would be
30 there tomorrow. When I flew to Arkansas I observed that my father had been scammed and would have lost his money. He was convinced that if he would send $5,000.00 that he was promised that he would receive $50,000.00. I had to take control of his finances and take him home with me to protect him. I counseled with dad's attorney that my father was not capable to handle his money and that I needed to have power given to me by a court to make it legal. He said that if Victor was agreeable to my managing his money, it would not be necessary to get a court order.
We came home and arranged for my father to stay with Barbara and I in our home for a couple of months. He wanted independence and privacy, so we moved him into the mobile home we rented out located on our backyard. This allowed us to keep an eye out for him every day, while still allowing him to be on his own. We had to travel to Yellville, Arkansas to sell dad's home and dispose of his other items. We sold all of his furniture and other items and his house. We took home a little over $35,000 and deposited it in his bank account. While Barbara and I went to Arkansas to sell his home we arranged for my father to stay in an elderly care facility, where he could have someone check on him every day. On our way home I decided to not have dad stay with us in the future. This was my decision and was not influenced by my wife. When we went to see my father he was pleased that we were successful in selling his belongings and home. When I mentioned that I felt that he should stay at the senior care center, he was delighted, because he was with people of similar age and interests and had enjoyed the time there.
In March 1995, my father fell and cut his head open. He had fallen about 2:00 am. He was not found for four hours during which time he was bleeding. The care center called and said that my father had fallen and would be in the emergency room soon. I left my tax work and went to the hospital. When I saw my father, his eyes were black and blue. I asked him what did the other guy look like? He smiled. He was taken to an Extended Care Facility where he did well.
On August 21, 1995, we received word that my brother's wife Charmayne Worsley had passed away. I told my father of Charmayne's passing and I felt that Douglas might need me. Dad said that he thought that I should go, that he would be alright while Barbara and I were gone. I kept in touch with the Care Center and they reported to me that my father was failing. He passed away while I was with Douglas Worsley and his family. I conducted a graveside service for Charmayne and returned home to arrange for Victor Eugene Worsley's services. My father passed away August 28th 1995 and was buried in the Dry Creek Cemetery.
My work was growing, but the building where I was working was closing down the rental units to make room for the expanded needs of the owners. I therefore moved my offices into my home about the close of 1995. I do not have good records of my church callings after we returned home from our missions. I know that I served as a stake Missionary, on the High Council and as a stake Clerk.
During this time period (1995 – 1997) David and his family moved to Middleton, Idaho from Portland, Oregon where they had been living and operating a restaurant. It was good to have family close by, again.
On June 18, 2004 Barbara fell and broke her tibia and had to have surgery to replace the bone. Yvonne was staying at the hospital the night after the operation and Yvonne noticed that the nurses could not wake up Barbara. It was at 6:00 AM and the doctor that performed the operation, came to see Barbara. Yvonne asked the doctor what was happening to her mother. He said that she was going to die this very day if we did not perform a tracheostomy and place a breathing tube placed in her throat. She was not getting oxygen. We counseled and felt that we should proceed. In the meantime Barbara had revived and was not agreeable to the decision to proceed with the operation. She did not want one of those things sticking out of her throat.
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The operation was successful, but she was not able to talk. She was so determined to learn to talk again to be able to share her thoughts and love. Tom and Tina had moved to Charlotte, NC a few years earlier, but came with their children and grandchildren to spend time with her at the hospital. Margo also came to support us during that time. Barbara was told that she could not come back home because she could not get around with her new hip replacement and that she would have to go to an assisted living facility. She was so very determined that she was going to go home, that she would do laps around the hospital floor with her walker to show that she could go home. This had to be extremely painful, but she set her jaw and was committed.
She was able to come home and not be placed in an assisted living facility. I took care of my dear wife, providing for her needs, the daily cleaning of her treak, helping her bath and all her other needs. This was a tender time for me and for our family to provide service to the one who had been our nurturer and caregiver over the years. Barbara learned to talk again, and we were happy to enjoy her company for another year. My son David and his wife were close by to provide on-going support for both Barbara and me. On July 18, 2005, my dear wife passed away after a fall and a broken arm that would not heal. She died in our home, while my sons David and John were there helping take care of her. Both Tina and Margo had been there to visit a week or so before, and Yvonne had been with her mother and me until the Saturday before her passing. Her funeral services were inspirational. All of our children were present and many of our grand-children were present.
Filling the Emptiness
I was extremely drained, both emotionally and physically, after my wife passed. Being her caregiver had taken its toll. I started walking again, going around the large block of our home. This was about three miles in distance. As I would walk every morning, I would carry a bag and pick up trash. This became my daily routine and I began regaining my strength. My children all came to surprise me for my birthday in October. I enjoyed the way that they surprised me. Margo was there to visit, and she left with me for my morning walk. Along the route, Tina joined us. I wasn´t sure whether I was imagining things. Around another corner, John and Dan walked up to us and asked if they could join us. We all arrived home to find Yvonne and David fixing breakfast for everyone. Bob flew in later that morning to join the crew. It was a gift from my children that I will always cherish – their time and association just when I needed it.
I spent Christmas in Charlotte with Tina and her family that year, so I would not be alone during the holidays. I was starting to adjust to my new life of being alone, again.
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On March 21, 2006 I received a calling to be an ordinance worker in the Boise, Idaho temple. My shift was Wednesday morning at 6:00AM. The calling was for twenty four months. This was a good experience.
On August 16, 2006 my brother passed away in his home in San Jose, California. Doug was being cremated, so I could not stay there for the services. The memorial services would be held the following week.
In early 2008, our sweet granddaughter, Elizabeth Worsley at the age of sixteen started having severe headaches. At this time, our son and her father was not active in the Church. Elizabeth was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer of the brain and was taken immediately into surgery. My mind raced back to when Barbara and I faced a similar challenge with Yvonne. Many prayers were offered for Elizabeth and her cancer miraculously went into remission. She had some very tender experiences with her grandmother, Barbara, communicating with her through the veil and telling her to be strong and faithful. As Elizabeth battled her cancer, our son and his family returned to activity. Their son, Adam, served a mission to the North Carolina Raleigh Mission in the fall of 2008. David´s family was blessed.
On March 31 2008 I received a calling from the First Quorum of Seventies, to be Local Unit Area Trainer (LUAAT) for the Western Area, covering 46 stakes mostly in the state of Idaho. I covered from LeGrand, Oregon on the north down to Oakley, Idaho on the south. I felt that I was ill prepared to conduct the training because I did not have a lap top computer nor did I have any training to perform Power Point presentations, nor did I have the equipment to handle these presentations. I tried to give some training, but I found that I could not function without the equipment. I spent money for the lap top and a projector and went about training the stake financial clerks, Stake Auditors and others as needed. Before I was released I had completed more than half of the stakes in this region. I was released from this calling June 17, 2010.
About this time I had a bout with poor health. This was the reason I requested a release from the LUAAT Program. It was April 11, 2010 that I became really sick early in the morning. I was vomiting and my blood pressure was extremely high and I was dizzy. I tried to call David at 6:00 AM and could not get a response, so I called 911 and emergency paramedics came and took me to the St Alphonsus Emergency Center. The doctors ran all kinds of tests and after 7 hours released me with a diagnosis of vertigo. I was finally able to contact David about 9:00 AM as he and his family were about to go to church. He said that he would change and come right in. He remained there for the balance of the time. There was a monitor over my head that was blasting most of the time I was in the hospital. David asked me if I knew what the monitor was checking. He said that it was watching my pulse rate, and when it dropped below 50 it would sound off. David said that my pulse rate was 35-42. I realized that I needed to see my cardiologist when I was out of the hospital. The doctor gave me some medication and wanted me to come into the office in a week. At that time he determined that my blood pressure was still low and that I would have to have a pace-maker installed to keep the rate at 60 or above. This was done on 28th April 2010.
My hearing was going bad even with a very expensive hearing aid. It affected my ability to serve the sisters in the temple. Some of the sisters would whisper so softly that I could not detect the response to my question at the veil. I reported that I could not work with this handicap and asked for a release. I was granted an honorable release from the temple assignment on May 5, 2010. I continued to help a tax preparer, Mrs. Miner, with her corporate tax returns and also the partnership returns until October 15, 2010. I decided to not work anymore as a tax preparer for the next tax season so I made the necessary arrangements. My health was still very uncertain. I had been walking about three miles a day five days a week. In early October 2010, upon returning from one of those walks, I felt faint, and collapsed
33 on the bridge in front of our home. I was conscious, but I could not use my body. A kind woman stopped to offer a hand to get up. I told her that I could not function at this time to let me lay in the gutter for a few minutes to regain the use of my body. A couple of men stopped their cars and came to help. Dr. Newcombe was not in his office that day and so when I called his office, his staff told me that they would contact him. He came to the home, as did David. Dr. Newcombe was concerned that I had had a stroke or a heart attack. He instructed David to take me to Emergency and have the necessary tests to rule out a stroke and/or heart attack. The emergency room doctor said that there was no indication that I had a stroke and that I was fine. I went to my Cardiologist and he said the pace maker was fine. He then asked me to tell him what had happened. I told him that I was returning from my three mile walk when I fainted. He asked me if I had eaten before my walk; I said no. He then said that the indications are that I might be hypoglycemic and sent me to the Diabetes clinic to be tested. I went and found that he was right. I was given a strict diet which included protein (eggs) with my breakfast. I have been careful eating three meals a day or one meal every four hours since.
In 2010, I had received an invitation to go to Mesa, Arizona to spend thanksgiving with my family there. Yvonne planned a thanksgiving dinner the evening before thanksgiving and invited all of her children and grandchildren and many of Yvonne’s siblings. She had over sixty people there. It was wonderful to be there and socialize with them. I was only home from thanksgiving a short time until I had to catch a plane for Charlotte North Carolina to spend the Christmas with Tina and Tom and their children and grandchildren. I participated with the Holiday socials that Tina held for the Stake Leadership, as her husband Tom was serving as the Stake President at that time. It was wonderful being there during the Christmas season. I have to tell you how much I appreciated David, Zina, Elizabeth and Adam for their care and kindness. I was, and still am, invited to eat with them every Sunday evening. I have not missed many Sundays, and it is usually because of my conflicts in scheduling. They have been careful to check with me each day and if I fail to answer the cell phone or the land line phone they made a special visit to my home to check on me. It has truly been a blessing to have David and his family close by.
During this time period, my life became fairly routine. I would walk everyday around my track (the large block surrounding my home), picking up trash. I had my morning scripture study and prepared for my Sunday School lessons and Priesthood lessons for the coming week. I would sit in my lazy boy chair in the kitchen and watch the humming birds on the porch, or watch the squirrels run across the yard. But mainly, I would be alone in a big house full of memories. A young girl who attended the elementary school across from the home watched me every day as I walked and picked up the trash. She told her parents and they nominated me for a campaign being run by one of the local TV stations. I received an award for being a neighborhood Hero and setting such a great example of community service.
I had wonderful friends that I would visit and spend time with. One sweet sister, Gaye Savage, became a dear friend. As she fought her battle with cancer, we would spend time together, encouraging each other to stay the course.
The year of 2012 was a year of major change for me. In January, I sold my tax practice to John Patton. I felt it was time to leave the practice, as I was struggling in remembering details and did not want to make a mistake that could hurt my clients. The year before, a young family in my home ward asked if they could plant and care for the large garden space I had in our back yard. My health prevented me from doing this. It was hard enough for me to keep the pesky squirrels out of my favorite Cameo Apple trees. I took the drastic step of setting traps for the squirrels, then “baptizing” them in the canal. Earl and Daycon Fish and their five young children came to my home every day during the Spring and Summer to prepare, plant, care
34 for and harvest my garden. Gardening had always been a love for me and it was a blessing to watch my dormant garden area once again spring to life with new growth, producing wonderful vegetables. They shared the crop with me, but also allowed me to watch as their young ones enjoyed the large back lawn and the canal. I realized that my home needed another young family there. In July of 2012, I sold the family home to the Fish family and arranged to move by the first of October. We had garage sales and family members came and took furniture and other items that they wanted to keep. My father´s piano went to one of Bob´s daughters to keep it in the family.
I wanted to stay in my home ward, among the people whom I had served while Bishop and who had known Barbara and me and our family over the years. I located an apartment in a complex for senior citizens, but I was placed on a waiting list. David and Zina were gracious and invited me to stay with them in their home while I waited for an apartment to open. On October 1, 2013 I moved into the Northgate Senior Village. A month later, I flew out to Charlotte, NC to spend an extended visit with Tina and Tom and their family. It was while I was in Charlotte that Tina suggested I start capturing the memories of my life. Much of the content contained within this history was dictated at that time.
I planned a trip to Mesa, Arizona to spend time with the family there in March of 2014. Around this time, Elizabeth´s cancer returned with a fury. Tina suggested to David that Elizabeth should go to the Temple and receive the blessings of the Endowment to help her face the battle that lay ahead. In August, Yvonne and Doug and many supporting friends and members of the Church attended a session in support of Elizabeth. I know that there were many from the other side of the veil there in attendance, including my sweet Barbara. The following month on September 10, 2014 my dear friend Gaye Savage passed away. In the spring of 2015, David´s son Adam was married to his sweetheart in the Boise Idaho Temple. Elizabeth had hung on and was there to celebrate this great day with her family. On June 8, 2015 Elizabeth graduated from her mortal school. We all miss her and were blessed by her courage and faith.
Suzette Brickley, Gaye Savage´s daughter, began providing me with apartment cleaning services in 2015. This has helped me retain my independence and stay at the Northgate Senior Village apartment. She is here in the morning to ensure I have breakfast and take my medications, and to make sure I have not had any problems through the night. David is always my first response call. Yvonne and Doug moved from Mesa to Wendell, Idaho purchasing his grandmother’s small farm. Yvonne is my secondary call. Margo comes for visits quarterly and does a deep cleaning of the apartment and spends time visiting with me and my good friends here at the village. Our other children have also come for visits and to assist as they can.
In July 2015 I had the opportunity to travel with John and Paula´s family to Nauvoo, IL to support Sean serving a performing mission during the Pageant. We visited church history sites, including Liberty jail, the Three Witnesses monument, Adam-ondi-ahman, Far West, Council Bluffs, IA, Winter Quarters Temple in Nebraska, etc. We also visited several US Historical sites. Sean met his future wife who was also a performing missionary. They started dating at BYU after their mission and were married in December of 2015 in the Gilbert Temple. I was able to attend the wedding and the reception.
I have concentrated my time and energy in family research and genealogy. In 2016, Janette Merrill, a Family History specialist, started to help me migrate all of my previous work over to the new familysearch.org site and has helped me organize and complete records that were partially complete. She is still working with me today as we find and prepare new names on my family line.
On April 16, 2016 I wrecked the Volvo on State Street. I was blessed that no one was injured, but realized
35 that it was time to hang up the keys. I started using Access Bus for $2 per one-way trip to get around the valley for doctor appointments, visits to the Boise Temple, banking, etc. My health has continued to diminish with lack of balance and vertigo. I have been on medication for these symptoms since mid-2016.
On June 29, 2016 I had the opportunity to go with my first great-grandson to receive his temple endowment in preparation of serving a mission. Wesley Ulrich was called to serve in the Mexico, Mexico City Mission. Our daughter Tina and her husband Tom Cheney submitted their mission papers in December 2016 and received their call to serve in the South America South Area as Executive Secretaries to the Area Presidency. They came to Boise to visit me before they left for the MTC in Provo, and to celebrate June Cheney´s birthday and say goodbye to her. TJ, their oldest son, drove through the night from Seattle, Washington with his family to meet up with his mom and dad at June´s party so that he and his family could say goodbye for a season. Tina and Tom left from Boise and reported to the MTC in Provo on May 15, 2016. They are currently serving in Buenos Aires, Argentina for eighteen months.
I am limited now to travel, but my good children and grandchildren have made extra effort to come to see me in Boise. I appreciate the weekly calls from those that are far away. David and Zina continue to give an extra measure of love and care for me, inviting me out to dinner every Sunday. These moments with my family, as well as my time searching for my family members that have already gone on, help to fill the emptiness that becomes my hours and my days. The Savior and my family are my sure foundation.
My Testimony
I wish to express my love for my Savior, Jesus Christ, and his atonement. I know that he is our Redeemer and our salvation. I am thrilled each time I read the Book of Mormon about the talk King Benjamin was giving to the people gathered. He was awakened the night before by an angel who instructed the people what he was to tell them about the Atonement. He prophesied that Christ should come and heal the sick and comfort those that needed comfort, and then that He would suffer as he took upon Him the sins of His people. I have understood that His people were those who believed on him and obeyed His commandments. He told the people that his suffering would be so intense that he would plead with Father in Heaven that He take away this cup, but never the less he finished. He said that the suffering would be so intense that He would sweat great drops of blood. In Mosiah chapter 3 he said that His blood would atone for the sins of those that have died not knowing the will of the Father, who had ignorantly sinned. What a precious promise for those of our loved ones that have passed away not having the gospel preached to them, and He will save and exalt them on conditions of repentance in the spirit world. He further explains that little children are innocent and that His blood atones for their sins. This is the pure doctrine of the Plan of Redemption. I know that it is true. I have seen the purifying blood of the Savior as my dear friend and widow felt redeemed and clean upon conditions of repentance and confession of sins. I have seen the healing power of the atonement in my own life and the lives of my children and grandchildren.
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