on or near Father's Day 1953

It isn't much of a leap to imagine that this picture was taken on Father's Day. I do think that I look like I am 8 days old. So, in honor of Father's Day, I will share a story about my dad from my family lore.

Four years earlier in August of 1949, my father was setting sail for his mission in Sweden. As I recall it was about a 6 week voyage to get there. He had only recently been set apart as a missionary and been given a promise that he would not lose a day of his life by his response to accept the mission call. In 1950, the first UN counterattack collapsed in Korea. Many of my dad's classmates attending the University of Utah were called up and sent to serve their country.

Meanwhile, the Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sweden were laboring diligently to baptize. It was a difficult mission even in those days when conversions were about 100 per year among 150 missionaries. My dad loved his mission and talked about those days with fondness throughout his entire life. One of his mission companions, Elder Durham, became a lifelong friend. I can remember our families getting together and listening to the two of them jabber on for hours in Swedish. On extraordinary Saturdays, my dad would make Swedish pancakes and occasionally my mom would find lingonberry jam to serve with them. Although plentiful in Scandinavia, it was uncommon in California. When I was a teenager, I went with my parents and some of my siblings to the areas where he served. Even though nearly twenty years had passed, the members treated him as though they had just seen him yesterday and poured out their love to him and to us.

On the 27th of November 1951 full peace talks resumed at Panmunjom. Shortly thereafter, my dad's fellow students returned home and back to school. My dad returned home from his mission on May 6, 1952 and graduated with the very same people he had begun his studies with previously. The Lord keeps his promises in more ways than one.

It is a true principle that I learned by this and other experiences with my dad.