Dearest Camille--Happy Birthday

I brought you home from the hospital

when you were only 2 days old.

Since we didn't have ultrasound in those days,

I took a yellow outfit to the hospital because I didn't know

if you were a boy or a girl until you were born.

Here you are in your first bed.

I slept in this bassinet, too, when I was first born.

You have always loved to talk on the phone.

You are very intelligent and

you have always loved to read.

You are very musical.

You have a great singing voice.

You have always loved to play games.

Even when we went to Disneyland together,

you brought your Scrabble game,

so we could play it in the hotel room.

Below is a photo of when we had a perfect game

because we had used every tile on the board.

You have always loved babies.

You have always loved to dress up.

I made this witch costume for you when you were 8 years old.

Even when you were 3 years old, you always loved to dress fashionably.

One night when you were 10, you put on my slips

and pretended they were fancy dresses--

accessorizing them

with

my scarves, ribbons, shoes, & gloves.

What a creative child you were!

What a classy gal you were at age 18!

. . . . and a beautiful bride.

Camille, you will always be my beautiful, precious daughter.

Have a wonderful day.

May God shower His blessings upon you.

I will love you forever.

Love,

Mom

Yukatas, Dragon Boats, and 1000 Cranes

On August 7, they celebrate Tanabata, the Festival of the Stars, in Sendai, Japan. While I was a missionary in Sendai, we had an investigator whose father owned a kimono shop. He made both my companion and me special yukatas (summer kimonos made out of cotton) which were hand painted with designs like the beautiful paper decorations that they hang above the streets for the Tanabata Festival. Sister missionaries don't usually wear kimonos, but we got special permission to wear them for only one hour. Here we are in the yutakas that were made especially for us. Pictured below from left to right: Me, our investigator, my companion Linda Stoddard, and a member of the Sendai Branch who went with us.

We had only walked one block when a man rushed up to me and said, "Hold my baby, so I can take your picture with her." I wonder who he thought I was.
After the second block, we were interviewed by a radio station. After the 3rd block, a reporter from the local newspaper took our picture, and after the 4th block a television station photographed us and we ended up being on the TV news. I have no idea why all the media was so interested in us, but it sure was fun.

Here's our photo as it appeared in the newspaper. Translated it says, "The Casual Kimono Style is very fitting. In paper and bamboo. . .they're pretty, aren't they?
Here are more photos of the decorations that go on for 8 blocks. Above is Sister Stoddard talking to some girls. In this photo you can see how long these decorations really are in comparison to the people below.

Did you notice the Coca Cola sign?

About the same time that Tanabata was in Sendai, the missionaries went with some of the members to Matsushima (it means Pine Islands). We rode on boats that were shaped liked dragons as they wended their way between many beautiful pine covered islands.

The photo below shows how Matsushima looks with all of its tiny pine covered islands.

After I got home from Japan and I was living in Billings, Montana, the owners of a Japanese restaurant were celebrating the 1st birthday of the their 1st child. A friend of mine was invited to the birthday party, so I decided to make a present that most people in Japan will never get. I folded 1000 cranes in one week's time as a birthday present for the child. I could fold 100 cranes in 6 hours if I wasn't interrupted, so you can see that it was a BIG project. Since I had to finish in one week, I was working every spare moment that I had and then I strung them together in Tanabata fashion. It took over 50 hours to make. I was still putting this together one hour before my friend was to go to the party. As you can tell, I had an oriental living room when I lived in Billings.

One thousand cranes are a symbol of long life and good luck. Jon told me that when the mom saw the gift she started crying and was totally surprised to receive such a gift. She didn't even know me. I just wanted to do something that would be totally unexpected.

(For those of you who know me, you know how I like to do unusual things, and giving something anonymously is even more fun.)

I Can't Believe that Someone Didn't Call the Police!

The Japanese members of the Church always liked to ask the full-time missionaries to put on special programs for them. Plus, the missionaries liked doing it because it was a fun break from everyday proselyting. When I was in Sendai, Japan, the summer of 1968, the missionaries were asked to put on a special 24th of July program, so Elder Peterson our District leader, decided to let the members have a glimpse of what pioneer life was really like. The skit was to take place in the dirt lot which was in front of the old pink building where we attended church. We affectionately called it the Pink Barn.

The elders spent a week making the log cabin, seen below, out of cardboard and in preparing for the skit. Here are the members, on July 24, 1968, calmly waiting for our program to begin. They had no idea what they were in for.

Elder Peterson talked the local junk man out of his cow and wagon for the night, so Sister Stoddard and I rode in on the wagon and Elder Peterson, our "dad for the night," led the cow into the church yard.
Elder Peterson rented a 45 revolver and here he is doing some of his fancy quick draws for the members. He was actually very adept at handling a gun, but remember we are "missionaries."

As the skit progressed, my companion and I fixed our dad dinner. We didn't have anything for costumes, so I had the idea of copying "The Sound of Music," so we used the green and white curtains from the church for our skirts and I used a paper bag to make a bonnet. I am sorry I am wearing the "bonnet" because you can't see my face, but I really was there.

Then our dad left his daughters (us) alone, so guess what happened?

Of course, the Indians attacked! Bloodcurdling war hoops startled the poor Japanese members, and out of the shadows came Elder McNeil with a flaming arrow to set the cabin on fire! (As this progressed, I was beginning to wonder if flaming arrows were against the fire code in the city of Sendai.)

Two more Indians (elders) appeared torching the cabin again and taking my companion and I captive.

Then they tied Sister Stoddard and me to the stake.

Then the Indians did something that my companion and I didn't plan on. They had soaked a rope in kerosene and then they lit it on fire. The flames were just a little bit too close for comfort and as we were encircled by flames, I got an idea of how the pioneers really had felt. I was hoping the flames wouldn't spread and that I would live to see my parents again.

Three Indians did a war dance around us while we were encircled by flames. (At this point the members were shocked. ) They thought that the Elders were being really mean to us, but then Elder Peterson, our dad, appeared with his gun, scared the Indians away, and put out the fire.

It was all really great fun and a skit like this will probably never be seen again

by the Japanese saints.

In Sendai, Japan, July 24, 1968, will go down in infamy;

and it will always be one of my favorite memories.

Found--After Looking for 30 Years!

When I moved from Montana, I lost my address book, and so I lost touch with all of my Japanese friends and companions from when I was on my mission. I have wanted to contact them again for 30 years. On June 18, 2010, I went to the Japan Market in downtown Salt Lake City. I asked the store owner, who is Japanese, if she could order some new koto picks for me, so I could start playing my koto again. She said that she didn't know where to get koto picks, but that there was a flyer on her bulletin board about a koto teacher in the area. A koto is a Japanese musical instrument that is made out of wood, has 13 strings, and is 6 feet long and about 1 foot wide. See the photo below of me playing my koto when I got home from my mission:

The next day I called the Koto teacher and went to her house to see if she had koto picks that would fit me. While there, I told her about the people in Japan that I wanted to find. On June 20, she emailed me the phone number for Kyoko Kubo Tanaka, one of my companions that I wanted to find. The Koto teacher is from Sendai, but she emailed a friend in Osaka, and that person happened to know Kyoko Shimai who is actually living in Takarazuka, a city that is at least 2 hours away from Osaka. I had been looking for 30 years and in less than 48 hours I had Kyoko's phone number! How incredible is that!

Naturally, I called her the moment I had her phone number. I was weeping because I was so overjoyed to hear her voice after all this time. Below is a photo of when Kyoko Shimai and I were companions in Tokyo North Branch. Tokyo North Branch is now Nakano Ward and that very same Chapel is now a stake center.

Kyoko Shimai told me that she had the address and phone number for Setsuko Okuda, another one of my very dear companions that I had been trying to find. Setsuko Shimai was my last companion at Tokyo South Branch before I went home. Below is a photo of Setsuko and me with one of our investigators on her baptism day. This chapel is now Senzokuike Ward. I love this chapel because it has an atrium in the center of the chapel. I wept again when I called Setsuko. It was so great to hear her voice. She is now living in Placerville, California. I can hardly wait to go visit her.
I was so excited to find Kyoko and Setsuko, but I still needed to find Linda Stoddard. I knew her at BYU before I went on my mission, and them unbelievably, 6 months later, she was called to serve a mission in Japan. Kyoko Kubo and I were companions in North Tokyo for 6 1/2 months and then I was transferred to Sendai where Linda Stoddard and I became companions. After years of searching directory assistance and Dex white pages. on June 27, in despiration I simply typed her married name, Linda Stoddard Frizzell, in the Google search window, and to my amazement it brought up a paragraph from the Hawthorne California High School blog, where I found that she and her husband were living in Mount Hood, Oregon. I emailed the webmaster a 1:00 a.m. and 10 minutes later he emailed me back with her contact information.

Here is a photo of her acting as a pioneer in our infamous 24th of July skit that we put on for the members. In my next posts, I will tell you more about the skit and Sendai.

Then on Monday, June 28, at 9:00 a.m. I received a phone call from Makoto Shiriaishi who is presently living in Japan. I met Makoto and Michiko when I went to Toyko Central Branch, but then they both came to Provo for Makoto to attend BYU. Makoto and Michiko were like part of our family. We were always talking and getting together. When Camille was 14 months old, we invited the Shiraishis to spend Christmas with my parents in Price. Here is a photo of Makoto helping Camille learn how to walk.
Today, I just talked briefly on the phone to Michiko, but I will call and talk longer to her tomorrow morning. Here Michiko is having Camille try on a little pink kimono that she made for Camille for Christmas 1981. This photo was also taken at my parents home in Price.
Last April I went to the Northern Far East Missionary Reunion. Unlike previous reunions I have been to, I saw many of my old missionary friends. I also came into contact with Kathleen Elder, who was my first companion and many other elders. Unfortunately, I did not take my camera, so I have so photos of them. Through the NFEM web site, I was also able to contact another dear companion, Janet Lang Demarco. She is now living in Las Vegas. Here is a photo of Janet and me as I was being transferred to Osaka. Janet and I are actually cousins. We have the same great grandfather, Hans Ulrich Bryner. What are the odds of that happening? Going on a mission and then having a cousin and a former friend from BYU as companions.

I feel most blessed to have found and actually talked to 5 former missionary companions and one very dear family, the Shiraishis, in such a very short period of time when I have been searching for them for 30 years. I feel like it was downright miraculous and I feel very blessed.

How Lovely Was the Morning the Day My Beloved Randy Was Born

A few days ago when I took this unique photo in my back yard, I was in awe. I had never seen the rays of light come through our trees like this before. I wondered, "Is this what it looked like in the Sacred Grove that one spring day in 1820?" I cannot explain the feeling I had, and this song kept playing in my head, "Oh, How Lovely Was the Morning . . . ."

The morning of July 15, 1945, when Randy was born had to be lovely because he turned out to be such a handsome, talented, intelligent, and gifted person. Today is his birthday and our anniversary. "Happy Birthday, Randy, you were such a beautiful baby." Here he is when just a few months old:

As the song goes, "Bees were humming, sweet birds singing . . ." On the occasion of choosing a place to say a prayer in order to dedicate the land of Belarus, which was formerly part of the Soviet Union, for the preaching of the Gospel, an apostle of the Lord, Elder Russell M. Nelson, said that the symbol of birds singing is important, and that Apostles listen for the singing of birds in choosing a place for dedication. Keeping this in mind, I have tried to make one side of my yard into a small nature area where many species of wild birds have made a home. In one day's time this section of the yard feeds and gives water to countless sparrows, robins, magpies, quail, finches, pigeons, and doves.
Randy loved sitting in the backyard on warm summer evenings and watching the planes fly over. He said that he bought this house because of its large backyard. I miss him so much, but I have found that it comforts me to plant flowers. I have tried to make it pretty as a way of honoring him. By the time any of you see this yard, many of the flowers won't be blooming as the summer gets hotter, so I will include pictures of some of my favorite flowers in this post:
Right after Randy and I got married, the first thing I planted was this trumpet vine. My Grammy McKinnon had a trumpet vine in her yard that attracted Hummingbirds, and I want them to come here, too. I haven't seen any Hummingbirds yet this year, but the bees certainly like this vine.
Last summer I decided to plant a Wysteria Vine. In Japan, they call it the Fuji flower. It had several tiny green blossoms on it in April, but before the immature blossoms could get purple, it got below freezing and I awoke the next day to see that all of the blosssoms had frozen, so I thought I would have to wait until next summer to see it bloom. I wanted to see it bloom because I was homesick to see some of my Japanese friends. When I moved from Montana, I lost my address book and so I lost track of some of my dearest Japanese friends and missionary companions. Then 2 weeks ago, a miracle happened, after over 30 years of searching for them, I found 4 of them in just one weekend. After I wept with joy, I got on my knees and thanked my Heavenly Father for helping me find them.

Two days ago, while I was out watering the plants, I was shocked to see this gorgeous 7 inch long Fuji blossom on the vine. It is only supposed bloom in the spring. This blossom appeared in the middle of July! I would like to think that it is a special blessing from God symbolic of His gift to me in allowing me to once again talk to my Japanese friends and missionary companions.

I planted these iris last year and I was very happy to see that they bloomed this year, too.

A Fuscia plant on my back patio.

I discovered Dahlias for the first time this year. I planted 10 plants like this in my front yard, but I don't think they like hot temperatures. I have had 3 plants die just this past week. The petals are simply exquisite.
Here's another special blessing: All the time I have lived here, this Yucca plant has had only 1 to 3 stems of blossoms. This year there are NINE stems of Yucca blossoms. Count the stems. There are 9. Each stem is over 7 feet tall, too. Randy would be amazed. This Yucca plant originally came from Randy's Grandmother Lola Sorenson Camp's yard. Russian Sage is planted in front of the Yucca and has tiny purple blossoms. Bees love the Sage, too.

I even got my first blossom on my Rose of Sharon tree this week!

Randy's favorite tree, the Mimosa is also blooming now.

Here is a close up of the Mimosa blossoms from our front yard.

Finally, I will show you what my spring flowers looked like. Here's what the tulips in the front of the house looked like in April and May:

This is what the flowers looked like by my front door in May and June:

My front flower bed in May and June:

Randy helped me plant these roses about 8 years ago. The blossom on the bottom right had a double center--a Siamese twin rose. I forgot to take the photo when it was really visible.
Randy, I love this picture of us because we were both so happy in it. I miss your sense of humor. I miss your laugh. I miss doing crossword puzzles with you. I miss watching you draw. I miss hearing you sing and play the guitar. I would give anything to hear your voice again. Living with you made me so happy. Life is so boring and so empty without you. I will love you forever.

This is the final photo I took in my back yard. I was just about ready to go in and then I took this last final shot. This photo has not been photoshopped and I really don't remember seeing that bright circle of orange light by the trees. I'd like to think that this was a special gift from Heaven--letting me know that God hears me and that Randy loves me, too.