Crismon Graduates with his Masters

Crismon's Master's graduation from the University of Colorado at Boulder, on May 10th was a monumental event. He graduated with a Master's in Chinese, with an emphasis in Chinese Literature. We are so very proud of Crismon for his excellent work. We were grateful we could celebrate with them, along with Scott & Laurie Swain and Grandma Taso. It was delightful to get to know her. She's a sweetheart. Crismon chose not to wear a cap and gown, and not to attend the early morning Commencement with all the graduates. However, Crismon and Dad did go the Commencement, afterall, to observe some of it. We all attended the individual college ceremonies.

We enjoyed a delicious Italian meal later that day. The next morning, Crismon & Dad hiked up to the Flatirons, the striking, slanted, reddish-brown sandstone formations that make up a portion of the Boulder's foothills on the west side. Later in the day we attended the Denver temple, and dinner at a very unique Restaurant. The Swain's stayed close to the airport that night, and we went on to the airport for a late night flight home. Crismon & Danielle are so faithful and good. They honor us by their wonderful lives and service to our Heavenly Father.

Julia's Baby Shower

We love having Julia & Austin close so they can come down for fun events, like to Sydney's musical the first part of May. Vivi, Ondalynn and I took advantage of the time that Julia would be here, and planned a fun Baby Shower for her. Although not many were able to come, it worked out so nicely. She was "showered" with so many lovely gifts. Those in attendance who have had a big impact on Julia's life were; Cindy Hansen, Cathy Hansen and her mother Carol Clark, Alice Lyle (her piano teacher), Tracey Carsner (YW leader) and Mary Lindhorst (YW leader). Seth's family came up to, and they helped to do yard work while Tiffany attended the baby shower. Then everyone went to Vancouver to enjoy Sydney's excellent musical, "42nd Street." We are deeply thankful for this miracle baby for Julia and Austin. Many, many prayers and fasting for this special couple to be blessed with a baby.

Bronson Graduates with his Masters

We are so proud of Bronson graduating from BYU with a B.S. & M.S. in Information Systems. He has worked so hard, giving his studies his most devoted effort. It definitely was a joint effort. Emily was a supportive, encouraging wife. We're grateful she had a good job over the last two years to help support him. Bronson worked part-time all through college, to make ends meet. He also had some good scholarships. They have been a good team. They always found time to have fun, too. They made an effort to get outdoors on the weekends, no matter the weather. They toured many beautiful sights in Utah before their move to Wisconsin the end of May.

Pres. Russell M. Nelson becomes our Prophet

We are so happy to sustain our new prophet, Russell M. Nelson during the April Conference. He has had a special place in our hearts as my parents were close friends with him and his wife, Dantzel, when they were both attending the University of Minnesota. My Dad was receiving his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry and Pres. Nelson was doing further surgical training and earned a Ph.D. where he worked on the research team developing the heart-lung machine. My oldest sister, Meredith, was babysat by the Nelson's so my parents could go on a date, and then they would take care of the Nelson's daughter so they could have an evening out. They enjoyed fishing trips together, picnics and water skiing. It's so interesting to have these acquaintances early in life and then to see where some of their friends end up.

In September of 2000 when Crismon was serving in a stake presidency with Pres. Watts, Elder Nelson at the time visited our stake. The Watts invited us to their home so we could meet him personally. It was very exciting for us to be with him. I told him I was Gill & Phyllis Smith's youngest daughter. Quoting from an email, Sept. 18, 2000 that I wrote to me Dad, I said: "Elder Nelson asked about you and how you were feeling. He then said, "Your mother was a queenly woman." And he said it with such feeling. That was very special to me." Then Pres. Nelson wrote a nice letter when my Dad passed away. It's a wonderful to have these sweet connections, although small incidences. 

April Conference - Solemn Assembly

We love visiting our beautiful Johns family in West Jordan. It's a treat when we can coordinate our visit with General Conference, too. We flew to Salt Lake City, Thursday, March 29th, to sunny, clear skies. The rest of the weekend was so beautiful. Sunny and warm for all the Conference goers.

Friday morning we visited with Grandma Julia, then on to meet up with Emily & Bronson at their nice apartment, then to lunch. We toured the Museum of Art, and enjoyed many interesting, and beautiful paintings. I appreciated Emily borrowing a wheelchair from her work facility so I didn't have to walk so much. That was very helpful. Also, I'm using a wheelchair much more at airports now, too, and that is a relief, too. We topped off our afternoon with the Gardner's at the Creamery for some delicious ice cream! We will really miss having Emily & Bronson in Utah, as they move to Madison, Wisconsin the end of May.

We loved being in the Conference Center for the Saturday morning, Solemn Assembly, and standing to sustain, with all our hearts, our new prophet, Pres. Russell M. Nelson, and his counselors, Pres. Dallin H. Oaks, and Pres. Henry B. Eyring. We know the power and spirit of that meeting was felt around the world as members participated in their homes, chapels, or wherever they were to sustain our dear prophet. It truly was an incredible experience. The spirit was so strong in the Conference Center. It was wonderful to actually be there in personal and witness that sacred experience as the First Presidency, the Quorums, the Seventy, etc, the Melchizedek Priesthood bearers, the Aaronic Priesthood bearers, the Relief Society, the Young Woman, and then the entire body of the church stood to sustain our new prophet, Pres. Russell M. Nelson. While standing there to sustain our prophet, I received a powerful witness from the spirit that he indeed is called of God. I hadn't really been praying for that witness, but I realized that would have been good to do that, but I was grateful for the power of the Holy Ghost that witnessed to me that he was called of God.

I'm glad that Emily & Bronson could be with us for that session, and especially grateful that granddaughter, Kenna Johns, could join us, too. Having these experiences as youth is so helpful as you strengthen your testimony. She seemed to love being there as well.


Crismon & I have been reading Pres. Nelson's biography and it has been so interesting. He truly is a man of God, so gifted, so prepared to fulfill this role as our prophet. We sustain him with our prayers, fasting, and obedience.

Emily & Bronson tended the Johns children on Sunday afternoon so Alice-Anne & Gary could attend that session with us. It was also another powerful session. Pres. Nelson announced that there would be no more Home Teaching and Visiting Teaching, it would now be called Ministering, and we heard several talks explaining more about what that meant. Seven new temples were announced. Dallin & Janelle were so very excited to hear that there will be a temple built in Richmond, VA, two hours from them. When the choir sang, "Let Us All Press On in the Work of the Lord," I was truly overcome by the spirit, and I had to cover my mouth to hold in my emotions. I couldn't hold back the tears. I was so overcome by the powerful spirit of the Holy Ghost that attended the conference. The choir sounded absolutely amazing! I'm sure angels were singing with them.

We're glad that Alice-Anne & Gary were able to go on a little get-away on Monday and Tues. Spencer got sick in the night, so they delayed a little in the morning so Crismon & I could go to the Jordan River Temple Open House. What a beautiful temple! The paintings were especially lovely.
Alice-Anne got to snow ski for the first time at Alta. They attended the Draper temple before returning late Tues. afternoon. It was so fun to have my sister, Meredith, come down from Ogden to visit with me and wish me Happy Birthday. She was so sweet. I received two cards from her as she couldn't decide between the two of them. Also, she informed me that chocolate was essential everyday so she gave me a bag of chocolates. She's so fun and I'm so grateful she's my sister!

Sadly, the stomach flu made it's way through the Johns family. That delayed the Johns from leaving on their Spring Break trip to Moab by a day. Dad was sick with it, too, on the day as we returned home on my birthday. I'm so thankful I didn't get sick.

This month has been very busy, especially for Crismon as he and his counselors have spent many hours making the necessary changes with the Elder’s Quorum Presidencies. We spoke at a Singles Adult fireside, attended the temple each week, enjoyed grandchildren’s school concerts, hosted Seth & Tiffany’s family one weekend, and hosted Tiffany & her Dad another weekend while they were here to go skiing. We had a lovely evening with our Patriarch and his wife in our home for dinner and then to view the training video for Patriarchs as a reminder of his duties and the Stake Pres. responsibilities. We love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the opportunities to serve, and the blessing our family brings to us.