Power of Prayer

Larry Edward Christenson is my father.  He was raised in Heyburn, Idaho not too far from the Snake River.  He and is siblings and friends liked to play by the river.  They would go swimming and fishing.  There was a railroad bridge that spanned the river with cement pillars reaching down into the water.  They liked to plat on these pillars and even on the tracks themselves.  Once when Larry was young, he decided to walk across the tracks from one side to the other.  He had done this before but had not become real proficient at it.  He started off slowly and carefully so as to not fall in the water below.  When he was about half way across, he heard a train coming.  He was terrified and started to speed it up.  In those days, there was no space to step aside – he had to get across that bridge!  As he picked up the pace, he started to pray.  Of course, he did not have time for a standard prayer, he just prayed as he walked and then ran.  In simple words, he asked that the Lord would help him to run and to get across before the train arrived.  He knew that the Lord was blessing him as he was able to speed up and to finally run.  He got across and jumped to the side just as the train arrived and sped past.  This taught him the power of prayer and he has been eternally grateful that he was watched over that day

Tribute to my Grandmother

My Grandmother was born in the early 1900's in Hyde Park, Utah.  Her parents named her Minnie Neona Christensen.  But, everyone called her Leona.  I am not sure why, I guess it just fit her better or maybe she just liked it better.  When she was a young girl, her family moved to Idaho as the government opened up the Snake River Valley in southern Idaho to homesteaders, and allowed irrigation rights from the Snake River.  A desert land that had been covered with sage brush, was gradually turning into green and fertile fam lands, as farmers settled and began irrigating the parched earth.  Grandma's family had some hard luck getting settled in the valley.  They finally settled in the town of Heyburn, on the north side of the Snake River.  Though times were hard for her family, her mother, Retta, made sure that the children took music lessons.  Her father, Joe, had bought their mother a piano when they lived in Hyde Park, and they were sure to bring it with them.  Grandma took piano lessons and loved to play the piano.  She became quite accomplished and used her skills and talents to bless the lives of many.  Most of her callings in the church were related to her accompanying on the piano.  I remember her when she was quite old, being called to play the piano for primary.  She enjoyed it and was glad to still be of service.  Music was also a big part of her own home as she raised her children.  Many evenings, the children would gather around the piano singing as grandma played for them. 
Grandma married William Burr Christenson, so technically, her name is Minnie Neona Christensen Christenson, which is kind of interesting that she just had to change the spelling of her last name when she got married.  Grandma and Grandpa raised nine children, my dad, Larry being the 4th child.  The home my dad was raised in in Heyburn only had two bedrooms.  Grandma and Grandpa had a room, the boys had the other room and the girls slept in the living room.  Though their life was humble, they were happy and they never went without food, due to the efforts of their parents.  The house was situated on a 10 acre parcel of land.  They had a huge garden and many fruit trees.  Grandma canned and dried much fruit and produce so that they would have enough to eat throughout the winter.  Grandma also loved to quilt, so there were always enough cozy handmade quilts on those winter nights, when the cold seeped in through the walls and windows.  She made quilts for my first two babies, which I really appreciated.  I still have them.
Later after many of the children were grown up, grandma and grandpa sold their little farm and bought another house in Heyburn.  That is the  house that I remember.  Grandpa still had a huge garden and grandma also had rows and rows of flowers.  I loved walking through the flowers and picking snapdragons.  They  had a 'slippery slide' in the back that we liked to play on.  Grandma would always give us a piece of waxed paper to sit on when we went down the slide so we could slide faster.
My grandmother loved doing genealogy.  And she did a lot.  One day, after she died, my dad brought some of her records to my home in Utah for me to see.  I made a lot of copies.  She was very dedicated in this work.
 I miss my grandma and wish I had spent more time with her when I had the chance.  She was a great woman and left a wonderful legacy.

In His Own Due Time

Christopher was born on June 2, 1988, being the third child in our family.  He was welcomed by me, his dad and two sisters, Natalie and Alicia.  Natalie and Alicia loved having a little brother and he loved his sisters.  BUT, well, they were girls.  Eighteen months later, he was there to welcome, his sister Nicole, and then at age three, he welcomed his sister, Michelle.  So, there he was, two sisters on each side.  It was about that time that he started including in his daily prayers a request for a brother.  In 1994, I was again expecting a baby.  When we told Christopher, his prayers became even more sincere.  Finally, he felt that his prayers would be answered.  It only made sense, right?  On August 7th, 1994, our beautiful little Melanie was born.  I am sure he was a bit disappointed, but he did welcome her with an open heart and assured us that he did love her new little sister.  That brought us to a total of six children, five girls and one boy.  I did not really think we would have any more children, six was plenty, right?  Then in 1996, I found that I was pregnant once again.  And on November 27, 1996, Christopher's prayers were finally answered as we welcomed Bryce to the family.  Chris is eight years older than Bryce, but is happy to have a brother.  It is a lesson on how God does answer our prayers, just not always in the time frame that we may want.

Listening to the Spirit

My mother, Marva, helped my dad with his auto body business.  She liked keeping the books and managing the front office, while he ran the auto body shop in the back.  She did not work everyday, but she would go in to the office a few times a week to take care of things.  One morning, she hurried through her morning tasks at home because she knew that she needed to get in to the office as there was much to be done.  She got the dishes and everything finished and headed up Overland Avenue towards work.  As she was passing Dworshak Elementary School, she saw that there was a child out in the busy street.  She stopped to help him get back to the school yard and realized that it was her nephew, Chad,  the son of Bill and LaVaughn Craythorn.  She got him back safely to a teacher at the school and then got back in the car and drove on to the office.  When she got there, she found that there was not really anything to do.  She could not figure out why she had felt the urgency to get in to work.  So she went on back home.  Later, she realized that she had been given the thought to hurry in to the office simply so she would be at the right place at the right time to give the aid that was needed and to possibly avert a tragic accident. She was thankful that the Lord had trusted her and that she had listened.

Creativity Shines Through

Alicia has always had a creative mind.  When she was little, she loved to paint, draw and color.  She loved poetry and story books.  When she was in the first grade, her teacher was Mrs. Wilmore.  Every week, the children were given a poem to memorize.  She loved to learn these poems and excelled at memorizing them.  I was so proud of her and her memorization skills and was excited about her enthusiasm.  I proudly went to the school on the evening of her first parent teacher conference, expecting great accolades from Mrs. Wilmore.  Instead of talking of her obvious achievements, she pulled out one of Alicia's math papers.  She made a point of showing me how Alicia had completed a few of the problems, then gotten out her crayons, colored the cute pictures on the borders and then handed the paper in, forgetting to finish the rest of the problems.  It made me feel really bad that she did not have anything positive to say.  She could have mentioned how nicely Alicia had colored the pictures.  AND, she did not say one word about her memorization skills.  REALLY, is math the most important thing in the world?  Alicia had and still has many gifts and talents, math just isn't one of them.  I know, I know, math is important, but so is coloring, right? 

Kind and Generous Heart

Nicole attended kindergarten at Aspen Elementary School in Orem, Utah.  Aaron Hatch was a neighbor of ours and was also in her kindergarten class.  On occasion, Aaron would stay at our house for a little while after school.  One day, I had been to the store and picked up some sugar cookies with sprinkles.  I knew that Nikki loved sprinkles and that they would probably both like a cookie as an after school treat. So, I made sure that I saved two cookies for Nikki and Aaron.  I noticed that one of the cookies had more sprinkles on than the other one.  After they had eaten their lunch, I brought out the cookies to let them pick one.  Nikki looked at the cookies, and being quite the sweet tooth said, "Oh, I want that one," pointing to the cookie with the most sprinkles.  Aaron said that he wanted that one as well.  They both had their eyes fixed on that most desirable cookie, and then Nikki said, "You can have one."  Then she took the other cookie.  I like this story because it shows Nikki's kind and generous heart manifesting itself at an early age.  She has continued in that manner throughout her life, loving and caring about others and putting their needs first.

Defense of a Young Testimony

Gary was born and raised as a member of the LDS Church.  He knew the church was true at an early age and was not afraid to stand up for his belief.  When he was a young boy, primary was held on weekday afternoons.  The church that Gary attended was across the street from the school.  So on primary day, he just walked across the street to primary.  One day, Gary mentioned to another boy on the bus that he was going to primary the next day so he would not be riding the bus.  The other boy, whose name was Ricky Long, said that he was going to primary that day as well.  Gary knew that Ricky did not go to his primary.  So he made it clear to Ricky that he would be attending primary at the true church and the church that Ricky attended was not the true church.  Ricky told Gary that his primary was too at the true church and that Gary's primary was not at the true church.  Now, there are many church buildings that have been built to accommodate the congregations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Gary and Ricky happened to attend different buildings.  They both thought the church building they attended was the true church.  They got off the bus at the same stop where their words almost came to blows as they maintained the truthfulness of their respective churches.  When Gary went to primary the next day, he told his teacher that some other kid said that he belonged to the true church and that he didn't even go to their building.  That is when he learned that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was much larger and greater than he had ever imagined.

Grandma and the Chicken

I was so excited when my big brother Kent brought home two baby chicks from kindergarten.  They were so cute and soft and fluffy.  The only problem was that they grew up too fast.  It did not take long for them to become another creature entirely.  They were big, ugly, mean and had free rein of the farmyard.  Every time I would go outside, one or both of them would chase me and peck at me.  Soon I was afraid to go out.  This was pretty sad for me because it had been my habit to go visit my Grandma Wrigley at least once a day if not more.  She lived right next to us across a dirt lane, her home being only around 75 feet away.  With the chickens out there always threatening, I could only go visit if my mom went with me.  One day, I really wanted to go see grandma.  I went to the porch door and looked out.  I could not see the chickens, so I quietly opened the porch door.  No sign of them.  Only being three years old, I probably was not very stealthy.  But, since I could not see them, I decided to make a run for it.  I had only gone a few steps, when one of the chickens made an appearance and took off after me.  In terror, I ran as fast as I could, crying all the way.  When I got to grandma's porch, she came out of the house in a rage.  She grabbed that chicken and wrung its neck right in front of me.  She just stood there holding the chicken by the head and swinging it around in a circle. It was a sight that I will never forget. Afterwards, she said, "Diane can't even come to visit me with these chickens chasing her."  We ate the chicken for dinner.  Not too many days after, the other chicken went the same way as the first.  I was so glad to have those chickens gone. 

Kent and Me - Early Early Years

My brother Kent is two years older than me.  When we were little we played a lot together.  I looked up to him and believed everything he told me.  We liked to play in our wading pool out in the yard at the home we lived in in View.  We had a black, step ladder that we would put next to the pool.  It was our diving board.  We also had a sand box we liked to play in, though I do recall a few sand fights.  There was a big lilac bush in the back yard that was neat.  We could climb through the branches into the center where there was plenty of room for one or two kids to hang out in or to hide.  Also in the back yard, was a tree that at a certain time of the year became the home of hundreds of furry, brown caterpillars.  We loved capturing and playing with these fuzzy creatures.  In the spring and summer we liked to catch polliwogs or skippers.  We would keep them in a round watering trough that we had in the yard. Kent and I shared a room in this small home in View, which was also the home in which that my mother had grown up.  We had a bunk bed.  Kent slept on the top and I slept on the bottom.  Our room was also the laundry room.  Kent and I got along pretty well in those early years, except for at meal times.  He sat across from me and had some sort of problem with my eating habits.  Apparently, I was a bit messy as he would get mad at me and complain to mom and dad.  Because I knew that it bugged him, I would just try to be messier.  Often, one of our parents would get out a cereal box and put it in between us so he did not have to look at me.  We both loved our home in View next to Grandma and Grandpa Wrigley.  We had plenty of cousins around to play with and we loved going across the lane to grandma's house and spending time on the farm.  Also during these times, while dad was going to school, we lived in Pocatello, Idaho.  We lived there in a small trailer.  It had a bedroom for my parents, but for Kent and me, the small couches were converted into our beds each night.  There was a playground in the trailer park that we liked to play in. 

William Burr Christenson

My father's father, my grandpa, was William Burr Christenson.  Everyone called him Bill.  I have fond memories of him and can still picture him out in the garden or tinkering around the shop at his and grandma's home in Heyburn, Idaho.  My picture is of him being outside in the yard in his overalls. He had a very large garden.  Grandma would grow her flowers on the first few rows and then he would have his vegetables on the next dozen or so rows.  He was always happy and smiling.  I never heard him use bad language or say unkind words.  He loved his family and enjoyed being around them.  We would often go to visit him and grandma on Sunday evenings.  He would almost always share with us something that he had read about that day from the church news, a church magazine, or a message from his church meeting.  He never did it in a big, formal or preachy way - he would just bring it up in the conversation.  I never thought a lot about it then, but now I cherish the memories of those moments when he would share the gospel and his testimony with us in such an easy and natural way.   I had no doubt that he knew that the gospel of Jesus Christ was true.

Though I don't remember a lot of details, I do remember our family going on day or weekend trips with him.  I know that we went up to Lake Cleveland and other fishing places.  He liked to fish and enjoyed the out of doors.

He was very proud of his children and grandchildren.  I know he was proud of my dad and his success with his auto body business.  My dad grew up helping grandpa out in his car repair shop.  Grandpa was honored that dad had followed in his footsteps.  One time Grandpa came up missing.  He finally showed up at my dad's shop.  He had walked over from Heyburn to visit dad at his body shop in Burley.

When I was around high school age, Grandpa had a stroke.  Though he recovered from it in most ways, his speech never was the same again.  It was very hard to understand what he wanted to tell us.  Grandma would do her best to try to decipher his garbled words.  Mostly she would try to guess.  We learned that there was one word he could still say well - 'no'. Sometimes he would get so frustrated and discouraged, and other times he would just shake his head and laugh.  It was sad, but we were glad to have him with us for a few more years.

I miss him and love him and appreciate his great example and the way he raised my father and my aunts and uncles who are all great examples to me.

Henretta (Retta) Christensen

Henretta Lund Christensen, is my great grandmother.  She is the only great grandparent who was still alive when I was born.  When I was a young girl, we would go to visit Great Grandma Christensen.  She lived in a small, humble home in Heyburn, Idaho.  She lived alone, as her husband had died many years before.  But, my Great Uncle Lund lived next door, which was good, so he could help her out when necessary.  She always had lots of flowers in her yard.  She loved growing flowers.  In her history, it says that she always had a bouquet of flowers for the chapel on Sundays during the spring and summer.  She even had a greenhouse where she would start her flower and vegetable seeds in the early spring.  At one time, she and my Great Grandfather, Joseph Edward (Joe) Christensen, earned money selling nursery stock from their greenhouse.  She also had a lot of knick knacks in her house that I was told to not touch.  After I learned to play the piano, my parents would often encourage me to play a selection for her.  I remember one time that I did not want to play, but my dad said that I should because it could very possibly be the the last time I would get to play for her as she was very old.  She loved music. Even though times were hard, she made sure that all of her children learned to play the piano and other instruments. After a fall when she was alone in her home, she became afraid to live by herself, so she moved in with my Grandma and Grandpa Christenson, so that they could help to take care of her.  I was told that she had been promised in her Patriarchal Blessing that she would live until she was ready to leave this life.  I always thought that that was a great blessing.  She died in 1974 when I was in junior high school.  She was 92 years old. The funeral did not seem really sad, but was a celebration of a revered mother/grandmother.  Life for her had not been easy.  She lost her mother and father at a young age and it became her role at the age of 16 to care for her younger sisters and brother.  She and her husband had a nice home in Hyde Park, Utah, but decided to try their hand at homesteading in the Snake River area of southern Idaho, where the United States had just opened it up to homesteaders and allowed water rights from the nearby Snake River.  This did not work out for them as well as they hoped, and they had a difficult time of it and of caring for their family.  Her husband then died in his 50's leaving her to carry on alone for many years.  Luckily, she had most of her children and their families nearby to keep her occupied.  She often helped my grandmother make quilts.  She had an orchard behind her home where she also kept geese.  For holiday dinners, she always fixed a goose.
 
In reading through her histories, I have found out a few interesting stories about her.  Not long after her mother die, her father took her and her siblings to the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple.  They sat on the balcony and she always remembered the Hosanna Chorus with all of the white handkerchiefs.  She had many experiences in her life where she relied on the Lord to help her through difficult times and was thankful for his watchful care in her belhalf.  She and her husband made it a practice to pray and  put their trust in the Lord.  She had a great testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and tried to instill that in her siblings and in her children.  How thankful I am for a righteous Great Grandmother who set a great example to her posterity.  I am thankful that I was able to know her.