May Happenings

The first Saturday of each month we have a 7 a.m. breakfast for all the zone leaders, and sister leaders in our stake. It gives Crismon and the High Councilman over Missionary Work a chance to connect with the missionaries, share ideas, and prepare for their Sunday meeting with the missionaries. It is always a treat to have their wonderful spirits in our home to bless us. I appreciate Crismon's help in pulling it together as it is a stretch for me physically, especially at that early hour.

That first week in May I was busy substituting in the temple for someone else, along with my regular shift. Then on Friday, and nearly every Friday, Crismon and I attended the temple together. It's a joy to have the temple close to bless our lives. On the 22nd we met Corwin & Lynette for the 4 p.m. session and then visited in the temple cafeteria. It was so good to have that chance to visit with them.

Crismon has had the unique opportunity of restoring Priesthood blessings and Temple blessings a couple of times over the last month or so. They have been a very sweet experience for him. The Brethren are having to turn more and more responsibility over to the stake presidents as they church continues to grow.

I've taken on the responsibility of trying to learn how to do Quick Books to keep better track of our business. We had hired a bookkeeper to help us over the last 9 months or so, but it is expensive and she asked if I had ever done this kind of work before as she said I was good at it. So, we purchased the program and I spent several hours working with her to receive some training. I'm learning, but it's going well and I'm glad for this new challenge.

Chuck and Martha Allen returned from their mission on May 11th. We happened to go by to see them just 10 minutes after they had gotten home. I think Martha was still in a daze as they had just walked through their home for the first time and they were trying to absorb the fact of being home to everything in boxes and covered with sheets. Everything was in good order. Their car started up immediately after sitting in the garage for 18 months. We had them come to our home for dinner and visiting. Then Crismon released them the following evening. The picture is one taken when Seth & Tiffany were in Norway and they connected with the Allen's while they were in Oslo on their mission. Then the Allen's spoke in our Sacrament meeting with Megan (and little one, Hazel),  and Marjorie & husband Micah attending.

This is a picture Crismon took from his office window. He loves working from home and this time of year is especially beautiful. The world is alive with color and the most beautiful flowers everywhere. The single rhododrenden filled my table.

A friend, Ernie Wilken, came one Saturday and rototilled our garden with Crismon and then on Memorial Day Crismon planted our garden. We're a little late, but hopefully it will produce. 

In the middle of the month I went to the Vance's and tended Isaac and Paxton so Ondalynn could go on a field trip with Bryson. I love the opportunity I have to be with them. Their family had a fun time going to Disneyland the last week of April. Alice-Anne & Gary's family went the week before them. Then Seth had meetings in Puerto Rico for 6 days or so. They took the whole family and they had a terrific time enjoying the beauty there and the many interesting things to do and see. He had carved out several days before and after his conference to do things with the family, too.

Last weekend Emily & Bronson visited his Grandpa Moss and his wife in St. George. They happen to be in Brad & Dantzelle's ward so it was fun for them to visit Brad & Dantzelle and see their lovely home. They were good to welcome them in to visit as they had just barely returned from their trip to the National BSA Conference where Brad was honored as he is retiring in July. He has had an amazing career with the BSA and is loved and respected by thousands. He's certainly made a difference in this world.

Julia turned 25 years old today and Austin turned 25 two weeks ago. They are a special couple, serving faithfully where ever they go. They are really needed in their ward in Pocatello where they are living for the summer while Austin is doing an Internship. 

I also wanted to record that Elder L. Tom Perry passed away yesterday, May 30th after a rapid cancer spread throughout his body. He spoke about the family in the last April Conf. of this year. Although 92, he spoke with such power, and with his enthusiastic spirit. We will miss his wonderful talks, testimony and huge smile. 

Crismon is speaking at Seminary graduation tonight. He keeps an incredibly busy, demanding schedule, but the Lord sustains him.

Emily's engagement

We are so happy that Emily is engaged to Bronson Gardner from Astoria, Oregon. He is such a fine young man and well suited for Emily. They met her second day at BYU in September of 2014. While he was teaching the Sunday School class on that first Sunday of the new semester, Emily was impressed with him and had the thought that she should get to know him better.

He happened to sit by her in the 3rd hour for Sacrament meeting and as they were talking, he felt impressed that he should get to know her, too. Soon they were dating and have continued to date since then. As in all relationships, there are some up and down days, but through it all, the spirit confirmed to them that this was good and to continue. 

They blend well together, complimenting each others strengths and weaknesses. Their deep spiritual testimonies will be the foundation to succeed in marriage. 

We are very happy to welcome Bronson in to our family. His parents are Jim & Michelle Gardner. Jim is from Hermiston, Oregon, and Michelle from Orem, Utah. Bronson is the oldest with 3 siblings. Jessica, his only sister is at BYU Provo, Damon is graduating from high school and leaving July 8 for the Macon, Georgia Mission. Logan is 14. They are a wonderful family and have strong roots in the gospel in his extended family. Bronson is one of the oldest of the grandchildren on both sides. Bronson served his mission in Bolivia, and is studying Business at BYU.

It's hard to believe we are now at the end of our children marrying. We're grateful for Emily's desires to marry in the temple to a choice young man. She is well prepared to make this important step in her life.

Graduations, Promotions and more...

Dallin receiving a PhD in English from Notre Dame

·      Bryan Williams (Meredith) graduating from Medical School, then on to Residency in Hawaii in Pediatric Medicine beginning the first of June.

 Seth earning tenure from the University of Minnesota in Journalism

·      Crismon Jr. finishing a year of intensive schooling in the Chinese language in Taiwan, on to graduated school at the Univ. of Colorado in Boulder this fall.

·      Austin Doutre (Julia) graduated from BYU-I , internship in Pocatello, on to graduate school at the Univ. of Idaho in Moscow this fall.

Gary Vance (Ondalynn) is now with Mill Creek Residential Trust as the Managing Director for their Portland Region.

Brett Caudle, (Vivienne) CEO of The Tech Academy in Portland OR.

Emily finished her junior year at BYU

Gary & Alice-Anne Johns celebrating 11 happy, terrific years together.  Gary was recognized for excellent performance for Merit Sensor Systems as their Processor Engineer.

Other blessings…

Crismon & Vivienne were privileged to sit next to Elder Jeffrey R. Holland at a dinner for 9 stake presidents and their wives following a training in Portland. This was a  very choice opportunity to visit one-on-one for 90 minutes with him and learn many insights of the Brethren, their schedules, their lives. Then we loved the opportunity to host Bishop Dean Davies of the Presiding Bishopric for a special Stake Conference and enjoying a special Luncheon with him, Elder Maynes, and Elder Holland on that Sunday. 

We enjoyed a quick trip to Cancun, Mexico that we earned through our Reliv Business in the middle of April; always nice to have an all-expensed paid trip. Best of all, was attending General Conf. in Salt Lake City, and visiting Alice-Anne & Gary Johns’ family.

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Wedding Day for cousin Lynette

Attending a temple wedding is a glorious event, and then when it is family, it is even better! May 2nd, niece Lynette Lewis was sealed in the Portland, OR temple to Ian Lake from Wilsonville. It was a perfect spring day. We were so happy to join our wonderful Corwin & Lynette Lewis family and rejoice in this blessed day with them. Lynette was a beautiful bride and Ian the handsome groom. They are an outstanding couple with a great future ahead. Hunter was the only sibling out of 14, not attending the wedding as he is on a mission to Peru. It was wonderful to see the Lewis siblings and get caught up with their busy, productive lives.

Ian's parents are David & Marcie Lake and he is the stake president of the Lake Oswego Stake. David's sister is Teresa Oldham. The Oldham's were in our stake for many years in Gresham and Bro. Dave Oldham served as a Bishop of the Damascus ward before they moved to Utah. It was so fun to be with Teresa, her sister, Susan, and their parents, Bro. & Sister Lake and visit with them at the Luncheon held at a beautiful country club in Wilsonville. Ian's Grandpa Lake was the sealer. It was fun to have Myreel Pease there, too, from BYU-I. We enjoyed hosting Wilfried Friday night and some of Lynette's friends on Friday and Saturday evening in our home.

A special treat was hearing all the Corwin Lewis' sing "A Marvelous Work" at the Luncheon. We love being with family for these choice events. It's always inspiring to be surrounded by righteous, good family members striving to live true to Gospel principles. Family is Forever!

Trip to Cancun, Mexico

We enjoyed a quick, but terrific trip to Cancun, Mexico. We earned the trip through Reliv for being among the top 30 distributors with the highest volume in sales in November & December of 2014. It's always a wonderful opportunity to be with the good-Christian people involved with Reliv. We come away feeling like we've been to a family reunion as there is so much respect and love for each other in the business. We feel this is a credit to the outstanding leadership of Bob Montgomery, and the others on the corporate team. They have instilled the attitude of as we reach out and help others succeed, we will succeed, too. We love being a part of the Reliv team. We're pictured here with Bob, the CEO, and founder of the Reliv company. We also enjoyed sitting with Ryan Montgomery (Bob's son), the President, and his family for the final dinner. They are wonderful people.

It was a fast trip, arriving on Thursday, April 16th and returning late Sunday evening, the 19th. There was a group event and dinner for the Opening night on the beach. Friday, after a short meeting together, we relaxed and swam in the different pools and Lazy River. One highlight was visiting with an Amish couple that we have become good friends with for about 2 hours about the church and our beliefs. Since we met them about 7 years ago, their strict religious behaviors have changed slightly and we hope the emphasis on the family unit and the idea that we live together forever as families might have touched their hearts in some way.

Saturday Crismon had arranged for a LDS tour to the Mayan Tulum ruins, dating back to the 13th century. It was fascinating to see this well preserved temple site, probably the best-preserved coastal Maya site, nestled along the spectacular Caribbean deep blue waters. Most interesting was getting a LDS insight and parallels to Book of Mormon scriptures. As much as I enjoyed being there, this was a stretch for me physically with a lot of walking, climbing, and surviving a very hot day.

Afterwards we had lunch together as a group and then we were taken to an underground river where we could cool off for an hour swim. Swimming in a cave with many bats hanging from the top was quite a creepy, but fun experience. Our guide gave us extra time at each stop and we returned back to our resort late that afternoon.

That evening was the farewell dinner together at a plaza in the center of the shopping area connected to the resort. We were entertained by incredible dancers that told the history of Mexico through dance. It was probably the best performance of its kind that we have seen.

We were hoping to attend an 8 a.m. church meeting, going by taxi into Cancun, but our return trip was a little earlier than we had planned, coupled with the fact that I was struggling physical due to pain and fatigue from the previous day, it turned out we couldn't make it, which we felt very badly about. We were grateful to travel to places we never would be able to go without these bonuses to us. Interesting to learn, that Delon, Clyde, Myreel, Alvin & Jessica were probably about 30 miles north vacationing in the area, too.  We were treated so well while staying in this beautiful, relaxing, amazing resort. It was taste of paradise.

Special Stake Conference

We had the unique privilege of hosting Bishop Dean M. Davies of the Presiding Bishopric for a Special Stake Conference held on April 26th. We had just had Elder David Baxter for our Stake Conference the end of February. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Elder Richard J. Maynes, and Bishop Davies were in the Portland area on Saturday, April 25th for a Priesthood Leadership Training with 9 stakes in our mission. Those invited were the Stake Presidencies, the Bishoprics, Elders Quorum Presidents, and the Ward Mission Leader. Crismon received a wealth of good information during the  4-hour training on Saturday afternoon. Then the wives of stake presidents were invited to come for a dinner with the visiting authorities. 

We were so blessed to have the privilege of sitting right next to Elder Holland at the dinner. In fact, there was just one other couple with us on our table, Pres. Allen & Jeri Oyler. Sister Oyler and I work together on the same shift in the temple. For 90-minutes we asked Elder Holland all kinds of questions. He was very open and forthcoming on many things from what he would do if he were "King for the Day," to calling himself "the rebel Apostle" with his unusual ideas on certain things in the church.

We will see a greater emphasis placed on keeping the Sabbath day holy. We might see them suggest families have their FHE on Sunday evening with their activity on Monday night. He shared insights into the Brethren, their schedules, the declining health of Pres. Packer, Elder Perry, Elder Scott and Elder Hales, and sadly, the serious health issues his wife has had over the last 6 months. She spent 5 months in the hospital with a terrible pneumonia. Sometimes he was sleeping in the hospital so he could see her. She was in Provo so she could be closer to her daughter for her help. Also, her son-in-law was the head surgeon of that hospital and insisted they not put her on a ventilator when her lung capacity was down to 5%, despite what her doctors wanted to do. Elder Holland said, that one decision probably saved her life. Through the power of the Priesthood, many prayers, their faith, and especially her faith and determination, she finally pulled through it, although she was literally on her deathbed. Shortly after last Oct. Conference she "walked" into the hospital and within 8 days, the doctors told Elder Holland they were losing her and it was time to call in the family. That was a shock to Elder Holland. Through the generous mercy of God, miracles happen.

One thing Crismon shared in his stake with our members was that Elder Holland gave all of them, and the members of their stake an "Apostolic Blessing." Quoting from Crismon's blog about his service as stake president, he said:

He blessed us (as leaders) and extended the blessing to the members of each of our stakes (there were 9 stakes represented). That’s why I mentioned it in stake conference because I wanted our members to know they had received a blessing via the priesthood leaders in the meeting. 

As you may have heard him say, Elder Holland repeated in his training that we are members of the "Church of Happy Endings," a nice way to remind everyone that Satan will not win, our victory is assured, so we need to hang in there. 

This wonderful spirit of optimism is further bolstered by the spirit of his blessing in which he blessed us with healing of relationships and a spiritual healing of our posterity to the tenth generation. He blessed us that the gospel will go deep into our hearts and through our covenants we will see the Lord’s hand in our lives to sustain us through these difficult times.

As for the spiritual healing of our posterity, he clarified, “They will have to repent like everyone else,” (suggesting this blessing cannot override agency),  but the power of our making and keeping covenants will reach out to our posterity down to the 10th generation and bring them back.

Sunday, Crismon picked up Bishop Davies from his hotel in Lake Oswego and drove him to our stake conference. There was a meeting prior with the stake presidency. The talks were especially good in our meeting. Then Crismon and I drove Bishop Davies to the Tualatin church building for a lunch with Elder Holland, Elder Maynes, the new Area Seventy, Elder Stapleton, and Elder Risenmay, the outgoing Area Seventy, our mission president, Pres. & Sister Craig Ballard, (Elder Ballard's son) and temple president, Steven & Diane Pond. We were blessed again, this time to sit next to Bishop Davies and learn so much from him. We also sat next to Dave and Marcie Lake, Ian's parents. They had returned late the night before from the Utah reception for Lynette & Ian. They are such lovely people. Dave is a brother to our good friend, Teresa Oldham, that use to live in our stake.

Bishop Davies asked Crismon to send him a copy of the photo of the 3 of us. We received this nice response back:

Dear President Lewis:

It was a very great pleasure and honor to be with you and your stake members on Sunday. I felt such a sweet spirit, and admire the way you lead. I do hope to see you again, and the invitation is open that if you come to SLC I hope you will come and say hello.

All the very best,

Dean