A to Z Challenge: Computers and Colombia

IBM Keypunch machine Image source

When we met back in May 1981, my DH was a college student studying Computer Science and working as a programmer for Savin Corporation.  Needless to say, he was then much involved in computers, and still is today.  This was back before personal computers were common.   They were not even available for use at the University.   In the Fortran and Cobol computer programming classes required for my business major, we  used keypunch machines much like the one pictured above to  out punch cards to prepare our programs for running on the big computer servers in the labs.   All of my papers were typed, either on my own portable Smith Corona manual typewriter or in one of the typing labs on campus.  So when my future DH offered to let me use one of the computers at his work to type up an assignment one evening in July, I was more than excited to take him up on the offer.  We also spent time playing some of those new computer games like Space Invaders . . .

On Saturday, August 29, 1981 I received a life-changing letter in the mail:  A calling from the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to serve as a missionary in Colombia, South America for a period of 18 months.  This calling was not a surprise to me, nor to my future DH.  I had been planning for this call since April, before I even met DH.  In order to serve as a missionary for our church, young men and women must go through an application process that involves a series of interviews, doctor's appointments, and paperwork.   I had shared with DH the fact that I was preparing and submitting my paperwork for a mission, and we had many long discussions about how our relationship was evolving and about whether or not this mission was something that I should do.  It was a difficult decision, but one that I felt committed to, so I accepted the call.

On October 29th 1981 I entered the church's Missionary Training Center which was located next to the Brigham Young University campus in Provo where DH was still a student.  After that day, the only contact that I had with DH and my family was through letters and packages.  My days and evenings were filled with Spanish, religion, and culture classes, with an evening gym class where we were led in aerobic exercises and sports games before getting ready for bed.  I did see my sister one Sunday evening at Church sponsored fireside meeting that missionaries were encouraged to attend, and I did see my family and DH at the airport in January when my group of missionaries departed for Colombia.   And then it was only letters and packages until I returned home in April 1983.  I'm sure that most courtships do not involve an 18 month period of time with no dates or phone calls, but I suspect that there are many people who do have similar situations.

I did love the time I spent in Colombia, a very beautiful country with many kind and faithful people.  I've never regretted my decision, in spite of long hard days, homesickness, and many disappointments.  I spent days and nights visiting church members, teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, participating in Church services and meetings, teaching Sunday School and Relief Society and Primary classes to women and children, teaching members to play simple hymns on the piano and teaching others to read.    I learned to speak up and not be afraid to share my faith and my testimony with others.  Once a week we had one day to do our laundry and shopping and visit the beauties in the local cities where I served:  Bogota, Bucaramanga,  Barranquilla, Ibague, and Florencia.

So why did I accept this missionary call and leave my cute, new found boyfriend that I was growing to love for a whole year and a half?  There are several reasons that I made this decision.  It may not have been the right decision for anyone else, but for me I feel it was the right one.

1.  The spring of 1981 had been a hard time for me.  I felt a little bit lost as to where I was supposed to be and what I was supposed to be doing with my life at that point.  I had never seriously thought that I would ever serve as a missionary as I have always been somewhat shy and don't normally or easily approach others first, but I began to feel in my heart that serving as a missionary was something that I could do.    One spring morning I was on campus enjoying the nice weather and came across these verses from Proverbs that have been  favorites of mine ever since:

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.     Proverbs 3:5,6

I just knew then that even though I felt like I wasn't quite the missionary type, that if I trusted in the Lord, he would help me to know what I should do.   So that's what I did.  I made this decision before I met my DH, and I wanted to follow through with it.

2.  A previous boyfriend was currently serving as a missionary.  He had extracted a promise from me before he left that I would not marry anyone else before he returned.   It wasn't a promise that I had really wanted to make, but I had made it, and I meant to keep it.  

So there you have it.  That's why I left my family and my future DH and traveled to a different hemisphere to meet some of the most beautiful people and see some of the most beautiful places on earth . . . Colombia in South America.

Bogota' Colombia

Florencia, Colombia

Florencia, Colombia

Hillside between Ibague and Florencia, Colombia

Florencia, Colombia  1983

Florencia, Colombia, 1983

A to Z Challenge: Barry Manilow

 

Barry Manilow Photo Source

On September 17, 1981 my DH (at that time my very good friend) and I attended a Barry Manilow concert at the Marriott Center on Brigham Young University campus in Provo, Utah.

I must confess that this concert made it onto my calendar, but no mention of it was made in my journal, which actually has very few entries from the summer and fall of 1981.  But can you blame me?  I was a 20 year old college student being swept off her feet by one of the cutest guys ever born, and we were dating or involved in some sort of activity with family or friends almost every single day.  I had been taking classes and  trying to do homework and not be distracted too much by this guy all summer long.  Who had time to keep a journal?

I do know that I enjoyed the concert.  What young lady in 1981 would not have?  Weekend in New England had been the theme for my high school Junior Prom several years before and all of Barry Manilow's songs were dreamy and romantic.  I'm sure the concert included most of his greatest hits by then, songs like Even Now, Mandy, Copacabana, I Write the Songs, Can't Smile Without You, Look's Like We Made It, Try'n to Get the Feeling Again, and This One's For You.

So, did this concert date seal my commitment to my DH?   Sorry, but I'm afraid not.  He'd already proposed, and I'd already turned him down, for now.  But that September concert certainly didn't cause any problems in our relationship, and I'm sure that by night's end I loved that guy (my DH) even more than before.

(to find more bloggers participating in the A to Z blogging challenge, visit http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/.)

Who Is Jesus Christ?

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 April is the month when the Christian world commemorates the atonement, death, and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ was Jehovah of the Old Testament and the Messiah of the New Testament.  The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the central fact in God's eternal plan for life. It is my goal throughout this month to spend time daily studying the words and the works of Jesus Christ, and I challenge each of you reading this post to do the same.  Here are a few places to start our study:

Jesus Christ, The Savior of the World

The Holy Bible

The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ

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Image Source

Who will join me?

A to Z Challenge: Alphabet Cookies

Image Source

The very first activity that my DH and I did together after the day we met was an evening spent  baking cookies together.   We were both attending college at Brigham Young University in the spring of 1981, and within days of meeting my DH, he called on the phone and asked if I would like to come over and bake cookies with him that evening.   Now I had never been invited to bake cookies with a guy before, and this was intriguing to me, so of course I accepted.  I didn't hurt that this particular guy was particularly good looking and attractive, besides being friendly and a generally nice, good guy.   He had a set of Alphabet cookie cutters that he had borrowed from his Mom or his sister, and we had  a pretty darn good time.   If I remember correctly, he didn't really have a recipie for sugar cookies at his apartment, so we went back and found mine, and we got to work.   I don't really remember what we did with all of the cookies.  I know we did bake our own names, and I think we might have frosted them too.   I enjoyed watching this cute guy bustle around the kitchen, impressed by his enthusiasm and the way he just dove right in and went to work.  I mainly remember how much I was impressed that DH had thought of a creative, unusual activity for our first date.  (But he says that wasn't our first date . . . since we didn't really go anywhere.   We'll talk more about that at a later time . . . probably when we get to the letter H).

A to Z Challenge Blog Reveal: Courtship from A to Z

So the past few months have been very full for me, and I really have not done much blogging here on my public blog, but way back last fall I created a potential list for my now annual April A to Z blog posts.  Two years ago I blogged about A to Z from my family tree, last year I blogged about the A to Z's of my childhood.   This year I would like to blog about the A to Z's of my courtship with my DH.  This month marks the 36th anniversary of our meeting and the beginning of our courtship.  Last night DH and I were out celebrating, and I realized that I had not even begun to prepare any of these posts, so even though I have topics for most days of the month, I will be pretty much winging my way through the foggy memories of that wonderful spring, and beyond.  I missed the official Reveal for A to Z 2017, and after a quick review of recent emails and blog posts realize I'm not even sure exactly how this is working this year, but any way, here it goes:

April 2017  Blogging from A to Z on Creation and Compassion and Random Thoughts and Tender Mercies will be:

Courtship from A to Z   

For My Daddy

Friday, February 24, 2017     6:51 am.

It is Friday, but I'm doing a TBT post this morning in honor of my Father, my dear Daddy, my DD, who passed from this life to the next just a few hours ago..  (Original Post was here)

I'm not sure where the scripture challenge came from, but these were my thoughts about these verses from Revelations Chapter 7 back in November 2012:

A Taste of the Future
Scripture Challenge Week 11
Revelations 7:15-17

 15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

 17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

These verses can give us a taste of what can be our future:  the joy of being and serving in the temple.  Our fondest dreams and wishes can come true.  We can be fed and nourished at the feet of our Savior.  We can always be in his light.  We can dwell with Him and with God, our Father forever and be instructed by them and comforted by them.  What joy and gladness!  May it come soon.  May these dark and wicked times pass.  May we all be blessed and fed and comforted by our Savior.  And in the meantime, may we all bless and comfort and serve one another.

I don’t know how I was guided to this blog post this morning, other than by angels.   I just received word that my Daddy passed from this life to the next a few hours ago.  This scripture, that I have not read or thought of for years is bringing me comfort this morning.   My sweet Daddy who served for years as a temple ordinance worker on the live sessions at the Salt Lake Temple is now free from the limitations of his 92 year old physical body.  It is my belief that he is now able to once again sit before the throne of God and serve him night and day.   Serving as a temple worker was one of the greatest joys of my Daddy’s life, and he has really missed being able to do this work for the past few years.  I love my Daddy and our family will miss him every day, but I am so grateful that he has finally been able to move on to his next assignments in the next world.

I Love You Daddy!

Living with Happiness

And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness

2 Nephi:5:27

Thoughts and teachings from Jacob, brother of Nephi:

Oh how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit. . . .

O how great the plan of our God! . .

 O how great the holiness of our God!  For he knoweth all things and there is not anything save he knows it.   And he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam . . .

For the atonement satisfieth the demands of his justice upon all those who have not the law given to them, that they are delivered from that awful monster, death and hell, and the devil, and the lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment; and they are restored to that God who gave them breath, which is the Holy One of Israel.

 But wo unto him that has the law given, yea, that has all the commendments of God, like unto us, and that transgrseth them, and that wasteth the days of his probation, for awful is his state!
O that cunning plan of the evil one!  O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men!  When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not.  And they shall perish.

But to be learned is good if the hearken unto the counsels of God.

But wo unto the rich, who are rich as to the things of the world.  For because they are rich they despise the poor, and they persecute the meek, and their hearts are upon their treasures; wherefore, their treasure is their god.  And behold, their treasure shall perish with them also.

Come, my brethren, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come buy and eat; yea come buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy.  Hearken dilligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken, and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness.

Behold, my beloved brethren, remember the words of your God; pray unto him continually by day, and give thanks unto his holy name by night.  Let your hearts rejoice.

The Book Of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ
2 Nephi 9:  10, 13, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 50, 51 52