Keeping the Home Fires Burning

Mom and Dad frequently joked that they would be the ones down in the furnace room keeping those in the Celestial Kingdom warm. But, did you know the extent of their financial contributions to the LDS Missionary program?

Dad and Aunt Sarah (A.K.A. Sally) were school teachers and had a steady income, so it was their job to keep the sibling missionaries out. The first to go was Uncle Les, who went to Florida. Then Rod went to England. When he got home Dad went to California to work for Lockheed.

Dad had purchased 200 acres of ground in Moses Lake, Washington and wanted to move there. He said it was one of the only times in their marriage that Mom firmly put her foot down and said no. I asked if he regretted not going and he said it was one of the best things that had happened to him. He felt like we kids would not have had the friends we had, nor would we have married as well as we did. Besides, when Neal and Dale got ready to go on missions, Dad sold the farm in Washington and bought the ground he now owns in Wilford.

I never thought it was very hard on Mom when we left on missions, but she said she missed us terribly, and that she developed a dislike for the hymn, "God Be With You 'Till We Meet Again."

Mom and Dad continued to contribute to the missions of the grandkids, but I found out something else rather remarkable. When Dad was High Priest Group Leader in Wilford he was asked to go out and get donations for a kid who was on a mission. He and Larry Kerbs decided it would be easier to just finance the mission themselves, which they did. There was another individual who went on a mission whose parents were renting some property. Dad did not collect any rent during the time he was on his mission. He just smiled and said, "I guess that was my contribution."

The above map shows the locations of the missions served as of the present (7/16/08) of the descendants of Ross and Margie (Double Click on the map to get a better view). How can missions be served without financial support? How can missionaries serve without encouraging letters from Grandma and Grandpa? It looks to me like their influence has gone around the world and has made a difference. There are many ways to serve and I believe they will have a reward much greater than shoveling coal. They have certainly warmed the souls of countless individuals already.

Last spring I arranged to have a local TV station do a segment on Dad and his accomplishments. Dad reluctantly agreed and then the next day called me and told me to get him out of it. He said he didn't feel comfortable doing it and that, "Besides, I haven't done anything worthwhile to be interviewed for TV."