Father Knows Best

Certainly this title is the one that is most fitting. The TV show which is from early TV years was well-loved, and had great messages, great family stories. It reminds me of now. It's been a wonderful summer which is now ending, but this week has been indeed one that we will look back upon as life changing. What a way to cap the summer...but first...  

JUNE meant anticipating travels at month's end while enjoying some downtime from teaching in what is now known as the "Bridge" here at BYUH, teaching 7 weeks in spring, off 5 weeks, then teaching another 7 weeks through mid-July and August to complete the semester. This was unquestionably one of the finest groups of students I could hope for, taking the REL 261 Family History class. Motivated, not without challenges, these 11/12 students made their way to climb their family trees with great skills, and love, for their family and for the unselfish benefit of others. Wonderful feelings about this group which will last for some time. Bill also taught the second set, and sat in on the class the first part of the bridge to get an idea of how he could proceed. He really enjoyed the financial planning class, and learned much about these topics himself. It appears he has affected lives for some time as well, and I'm glad he could do this.

 JULY --or actually beginning the last 2 days of June, we headed to the mainland for our Utah/Iowa vacation, during the 2+ week closure of the temple. No subs to obtain to cover our shifts made it even less stressful. We set our sights upon Utah to see Megan, but also to explore our retirement possibilities there--homes and/or property in the mountains of Utah County, potential employers there, meeting up with people we care for who now live in that area. Nice dinners and luncheons with these good people. We enjoyed time with Megan at Provo's July 4th Stadium of Fire with the Beachboys--amazing! and such gala fireworks. We will remember that for a LONG time! We even found a great property site in Highland. It faces the mountains which in that spot remind us of Logan. Ahhhhh......we both fell in love with that. Now, to come home, get the house on the market and sold, then ...we're out of here!!!! Petersons and others were happy for our choice. Bill's family was also supportive, looking forward to coming/even moving !!! to this Utah area, too! Our visit to Iowa was Maidrite-filled, at the CF site and Waverly DQ, too... and our annual "It's Christmas" shopping at Williamsburg outlet mall. Found lots of things :) More Ahhhhh....... even though we were so sorry to see the drought-stricken farmlands there. We celebrated Grandma Neal's 92nd birthday and stayed at the Shell Rock Neal Farmhouse, Carol's, for a few nights in her renovated and updated home. How lovely that was! Enjoyed time with Betty, too, and relaxed in the Midwestern style. We also visited brother Mike R. in Minneapolis the night before we flew home. A quick visit, that was pleasant, too. The ending part of July meant we visited over and over ONO YO, our favorite Kahuku treat trailer, and enjoyed once again our summer in Hawaii, since, after all, it may be about our last one here!  

AUGUST came around the corner SOO FAST! Classes, temple time, and a beautiful new grandson to prepare for. Evan Robert Hoakua Jensen arrived August 12, a handsome, beautiful, sweet and sleepy boy! 8 lb. 10 oz.--some hair, and good one for a brother in their cute Jensen family! Enjoying all of the grandchildren before their July 30 date to return to school--Matsomotos was a place we all congregated to celebrate a good summer gone by. Jeanette Simram from Pohnpei joined us for the month preceding BYUH beginning. She is a delight and has become a fun auntie for the grands to enjoy, too. About August 10, though, before the excitement of Evan arriving, we received an interesting phone call one morning from the secretary to Elder Richard Maynes, of the presidency of the Seventy of our church. She asked if Bill and I could arrange to have a speaker phone conversation with Elder Maynes on Friday, the 17th. We agreed, but of course, the questioning in our minds began.......

Oh my! WHAT would this be about? Would Bill be needed to help as an auditor? Yes, that must be it. But, in reflection, we remembered some leaders here who had wondered "When is Bill retiring?" Two of those were the current Laie Temple President and incoming Temple President. Maybe we were going to be asked to be new missionaries ???? but ....we are scheduled to teach this term! We'd need to be retired. So, no, that's not it . . . . . The morning of the phone call Elder Maynes inquired first that I tell him about our family...and our health. He then issued a calling to Bill from the First Presidency of the Church to become the second counselor to Pres. Kanekoa of the Laie Temple beginning November; I would be serving as temple matron. << P A U S E >> OH MY!!!!

Since Bill is not yet retired and did not have an exit date in mind from BYUH, we made him aware of that, and he offered us time to review this over the weekend. We gratefully appreciated that time to think this over and did that. This came as such a shock, such a surprise. We THOUGHT we were supposed to SELL the house, RETIRE from BYUH, MOVE to the mainland and buy a house outright, then TRAVEL, then serve a MISSION. Now if we accepted this the order was much changed! One thing I had always prayed for since last November was that the Lord would be very DIRECT in letting us know if we were on the wrong track, what would be best. Well, apparently, the Lord was good to us and DID indeed let us know what we were to do! ! !

 A visit to the temple made it very clear what our answer would be, but we did inquire about our capability financially to take this big, life-changing step. Apparently, the Lord thinks "we have enough." We are honored, humbled, and . . . so much more that words cannot describe. Truly the Lord answers prayers, He knows us, and knows our needs, and . . . knows what we need most. This I am keenly aware of.

So life moves on for us, in Hawaii for now, and we trust and know it will be for our good. May we prove to be all He needs us to be. And so, life goes on. Our girls were permitted to find out once we received our letter from the First Presidency; it arrived August 30. We are so grateful for their love and support--all 4 of them were happy for us. We can do this, not of our own strength, but with strength that rests in the Lord. Indeed, we trust that Father Knows Best.