With All Our Love

Dear Tanner,

You might have two letters in your email box this morning. I am in Berlin, Ohio. Near Millersburg...Amish county. Four hours north of your father. When I left yesterday morning, and he didn't want to share his computer or iPad (what? you didn't know? - gift for being assistant department chair) while I traveled, I told him I might not have access to a computer as we're staying at the Berlin Grande, and not our usual Marriott, but life is good and there is one available for use. Won't he be surprised, as I won't be telling him otherwise?

We are in Berlin as Porter's summer senior league baseball team won all their games, while Porter was away at scout camp, and Jamboree, making them district winners. So he gets a free ride on their coat tails, and is traveling to the state tournament to play ball!

Don't tell Dad this either. Hunter drove the entire way. He did a great job. He drove through a massive thunderstorm. He was funny when we arrived at the hotel, as he informed me how exhausted he was! Concentrating for a long time, during difficult driving situations, is very tiring.

Sawyer, Breyer and I took a quick swim in the pool. I made myself go for a couple of reasons. After sitting in the car for a long period of time I knew it would be good for me. Also, I knew that after the 7 pm baseball game all the players would be headed to the pool, and I was right. I mention this as Breyer has struggled with a fear of getting wet in a pool situation. But, she's doing much better. She does love to be carried around, though, and is now able to handle the stairs.

Porter's team drew the six-years-in-a-row winning team to play first. Not a little pressure. The high school field was beautiful, on a hill with a nice bleacher arrangement, under the lights. The press box had the local radio station personality broadcasting the game, and you could faintly hear his commentary, which was very enjoyable. There were Mennonites and Amish families in their stand, and their boys on the field. We heard these boys, who have learned to work so hard, and have become very strong, would be tough to beat. It was a killing! Mercy rule kicked in the 5th, as the score was 14-0, so we're in the loser's bracket. Sawyer had fun chasing all the foul boys, as they rewarded boys with returned foul balls a piece of candy.

This morning we got up nice and early to find the church. We had three to pick from, that were all 20 something miles away. We left just after 8 a.m., and didn't arrive until 9:45! Just a tad late for the 9 a.m. service! The church was on Liahona Drive. Now I know why. You need one just to get there. In the 20 something miles we had to cover, we turned 17 times, literally etch-a-sketching our way around cornfields three towns away. We laughed and laughed every time we had to turn around and reconfigure. For 15 minutes, we drove 5 miles per hour behind two Amish horse and buggies going up a steep hill, on a no-pass double line road. Often there were Amish walkers and bicyclists as well.

While in nursery with Breyer, I learned that the missionaries are teaching Amish families, and three had recently joined the church here. But those three families have been asked to open an Amish branch to help other converts and their transition. So cool! Coming home we traveled behind more buggies, and a few walkers, in the traditional Sunday attire. I will say, though, that as I walked into the church, and heard the speaker sharing a quote from Elder Holland, I knew I was in the right place at the right time, listening to the right thing. I love that I can go to church anywhere in the world, even Brazil ;-) and feel what I need to feel.

Porter's team played tonight. He was in uniform, but just sat on the bench. The coaches have been wonderful in supporting his decision to not play on Sunday. They were served a traditional Amish dinner, by the tournament hosts, before they played. When we arrived at the game, the official keeper-of-the-book stood up to tell me that she had to check before the game with the official in the press box as to whether or not Porter's name should be recorded on the line-up, even though he wasn't playing on Sunday because of religious beliefs. The coach of last night's game was rather rude, and was in disbelief that someone wouldn't play baseball just because the game was on Sunday. He asked her several times why not, saying he has Amish and Mennonite boys playing ball on Sunday, and they're religious. Finally she said, "No, he won't be playing today, because he's Mormon!" And left it at that.

When she told me I gave her a hug and told her how much I appreciated her standing up for me, and that I considered her a dear friend. That's probably been one of the highlights of this trip for me.

Other news of the week? Let's begin with your former companions. Elder Cummings new companion is from Peru, possibly the only Peruvian missionary. He said that most of that elder's family lives in Oregon, where his great grandparents all live! "As a trainador I am definitely feeling the pressure, I can only imagine how Elder Schenewark feels going from junior to district leader to training at the same time!! But it is good."

I asked the Beaudoin's if they knew their son had made district leader, and they replied: "Nope he didn't tell us but that doesn't surprise me. Mr. Humility... Either that or he forgot to mention it in the two sentences he was able to email us before his transfer!! Thank you, Amy!" [Thank goodness YOU always manage to squeeze out a few lines, busy or not! Thank you!]

We got the good news from our friends in the east: “All is well, all is well. She did so well, she was giggling and happy as could be the moment she woke up. Ah the pain medication, she was so happy. Everything is fine, they got it all, very early and contained." So good news there!

Monday Hunter played a little golf. Wasn't too happy, again. He's very anxious to get east where Grampy will help him get measured and fit for a driver, and see if his score can get a little lower. We should be leaving Thursday for Boston, so your next letter will have a New England flavor ;-)

Tuesday Porter helped with his team's fundraising efforts, standing near an intersection, holding signs, and waiting for the lights to change, and the drivers to donate. They collected about $1500 in three hours! People were very generous. Combined with corporate donations I think they came here with over $5000. So we haven't had to pay for very much, which is wonderful!

Dad, Porter and Cooper left for the National Jamboree, the first to be held in the new West Virginia Bechtel Summit. Dad was helping with a vendor display and had a pass, and a hotel room, so he brought along the brothers. They had a great time! So much so that they opted to purchase day passes for the second day instead of leaving. They said their highlight was getting up really early to attend the "seminary" portion of the LDS display and earn a coveted neckerchief slide carved by the infamous (fill-in the blank). This is where having Dad next to me would be helpful. Hopefully he'll write about Jamboree. I do know, just by looking at the pictures, it's definitely a work in progress, and it will only get better as they work out all the kinks. Some of the new activities include mountain boarding, white water rafting, canopy tours, water boarding...good stuff! (Mom)

Yes, I (your Dad) have come expecting to be the writer of this week’s email letter. I see your Mom has been able to write much. I also see your mother has a few notes on some other stories to write.

One was a news story, I showed your mom, about a runner who while on the loose relieved themselves next to some guy’s house. Not only once but four times, and the home owner has it all on security camera. It happened in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The story is foul in so many ways and it was reported that the lady had committed no crime. The only funny part about the story is what the home owner called the act. He labeled it “malicious fecal distribution.”

Here are a couple of questions:

First, have you received my beehive letter? And the letters from your brothers? Second, is there any excitement, news, or commotion (where you are) about the Pope’s visit to Brazil? I saw a new story about the decline of the Catholic church in Brazil from 1994 to the present. The story stated that in 1994, 74% of the population identified itself as Catholic. It is now down to 54%. There are a number of ways of looking at this information. Are people less religious? Are they less inclined to consider themselves belonging to a certain religion if they are not actively participating? Or are they joining other churches and thus the Catholic church is losing members?

As your mom mentioned I took Cooper and Porter to the National Jamboree. The Summit Bechtel Reserve is very nice, and very large. There are three major zip lines. The riders on the zip lines reach speeds in excess of 40 miles an hour. One zip line goes over a lake and is nearly 3/4 of a mile long.

They also had a “canopy tour.” Here you would go through the treetops on zip lines ranging from 100 to 300 feet long. Also, a giant rock climbing wall, a skateboard park, over 30 miles of mountain biking trails, and a few BMX courses. Now I am not really into BMX, but the courses are great. I enjoyed watching the riders very much. One course has you race against a single rider, you leave from the same starting gate, race on different tracks of the same length which then converge at the same exit point. Another track has 10 riders lineup at the starting gate and all race on the same track to the finish line. It would be very fun.

Because of the limited time we had (people with visitor passes were supposed to at the jamboree between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.) your brothers spent most the time going to the hundreds of tents. Some tents were just like a trade show. For example the AT & T tent would have you sign your life away for a patch and a pair of sunglasses. They were there to get you as a lifelong customer. The good thing about AT & T was that they had the whole jamboree set up for cell phone and Wi-Fi use. They encouraged the use of mobile technology in order to test their system. They asked people to try to overload it, but it worked very, very well. This came in very handy (though I do not want to be at the scout camp with a cell phone, on most occasions).

There was a number of tents set up for merit badges. A couple that your brothers did included a new “mining in society” and welding. The mining in society badge will be released next year and your brothers received a blue card with the requirements they finished for welding. It was their idea to do welding, which took about an hour and a half. Cooper helped carve a new Eagle Scout totem pole, which will be left at the summit reserve when it is all finished. He received a certificate saying he helped in carving the totem pole.

There was also a number of lakes, one which contains Dragon boats (which were not open to visitors) and another which included a replica of the first scout camp conducted by Baden- Powell at Brownsea Island. On the island were some activities conducted at the original camp, including basketball. One who participated in basketball had to shoot the ball in the manner of the early 1900s, which was underhand and with no backboard.

We spent a lot of time at the “Faith and Beliefs” section. I like that section. One was able to interact with religious organizations that support scouting. Included in the section were the Catholics (where your brothers and I earned a special patch making a rosary and learning about the rosary prayers), Muslim, Sikh, Episcopalian, and Baptists. To earn a patch at the Baptists you had to take a test showing knowledge of the Baptist Church religious awards (I only missed one question), and where you are asked if you had a personal relationship with the Savior (and if not would you like one). Since we passed, we received the patch and on it was the Scripture reference of John 14:6. The man asked if we knew what the Scripture was about, and I quoted it (from the King James version). This act excited the scout leaders at the table and earned me a high five. It is always good, and I think many people are surprised when we know the Bible. At quiz bowl this year, Hunter answered the majority of biblical questions, including one to win a match. I think people are very surprised when the “Mormon” answers biblical questions. It is always a good missionary tool.

Speaking of missionary tools, the highlight at the jamboree was going to the tent for the church. Your brothers and I both earned a patch (which was fairly simple) and the Thomas S. Monson award. At the last jamboree, the church had the George Albert Smith award which could only be earned at the jamboree. The Thomas S. Monson award will be opened up to the rest of the church (and general public) at the end of the jamboree. To earn the award one had to do a few simple things and read the history of scouting in the church and a talk called “Run Boy Run” that President Monson gave in 1982. Most importantly the workers in the tent held us accountable for completing all the requirements. We rushed to finish the requirements and had forgotten to read the stories. The representative of the church who worked with your brothers had them sit down and read the stories. He then discussed it with them to make sure that they had read and understood them. He then spoke to your brothers in a firm, but loving manner about keeping themselves morally clean, about preparing and serving a mission, and in doing their priesthood duties. I was most grateful for them to have this experience and for someone with a strong testimony to show love and emphasize staying on the right path. I am grateful for good examples, and those who share the same beliefs, with vigor, who are outside of our family. My sisters do a wonderful job of this as well.

In connection to this story, we arrived the next morning at 6:30. We were able to get in the jamboree so early because I was helping in one of the tents as a vendor. This was a great blessing, because we are able to go back to the church's tent and speak with a man named Brother Dollar. Brother Dollar had worked many years with a man named Bill Burch. Brother Burch is a legend for creating hand carved bolo ties. Brother Burch began attending the national jamboree in 1957, as well as training sessions in Philmont. He made it a part of his life to freely give bolo ties (which take about three hours to carve) to young men and (sometimes) leaders who pledge to keep the scout law and oath. Is also an opportunity to introduce people to the church. Brother Burch died in September 2012. I remember seeing his story in the church news. In his lifetime he made over 50,000 hand carved bolo ties.

Brother Dollar, who has made over 10,000 bolos and with whom had apprenticed under Brother Burch, has continued the tradition. Boys began to line up by 5:30 in the morning, for a chance to get a bolo tie starting at 8:00. On Thursday morning your brothers made it into the first group of 12 boys. Boys are awarded the bolo tie after Brother Dollar gets to speak to them. He speaks for about 20 minutes. He spoke to them about the history of Brother Burch, about a vision of each scout living the Scout Law, and the Scout Oath, about being prepared in order to serve others, and the impact of each scout doing a good turn daily on the world.

For me the real value of scouts lies within the law, the oath, the slogan, and the motto. This is the real value of the Scouting program. These things, these ideals are closely related to the covenants that we make as priesthood holders and members of the church. This could be talked about more, but I won't in this letter except for story that I heard from Brother Burch (and is now found in a video, on the internet, of him speaking.)

Brother Burch was working at the Philmont training center. As you may know each year the church has training for scout leaders. Each leader who completes the set training is awarded a hand-carved bolo tie. One year during this training, Brother Burch was put in charge of a group of 11-year-old scouts (who I believe were members of the church). He talked to those 11-year-old boys and told them that during the course of the week there will be a number of contests in which they could win a bolo tie. He laid out all his bolo ties.

One boy was searching through all the bolos and found a very unique one. It was a World War II German soldier. It was the only one in the bunch, and the boy was extremely excited claiming that he found the one and only one of its kind. This was the one that he was going to win. This was the one with the greatest value.

Well the first contest came, and this small boy struggled with all his might and strength and was victorious. He chose the bolo of the German soldier, and was so excited that he exclaimed to the others that this carving was the one of greatest value and that he had won it. Well, apparently, there was a scout troop from Georgia that was to take a trek into the backwoods of the mountains. However, one boy had an illness which prohibited him from making the trek. It was something to the effect of diabetes or some other long term condition that his scoutmaster had known about, but who tried to sneak the boy through the medical clearance in order that the boy could make the trip. The boy was not cleared and the rest of his troop went off on their adventure. Here this boy sat all alone, all his friends gone, and he was very mad and angry. He was disruptive, and the leadership at Philmont asked Bill Burch if this boy may join in with the activities of the 11-year-old scout patrols. Brother Burch said, “Sure.”

When the boy arrived, he was physically dirty on the outside and had a filthy mouth. He spoke a vulgar language unfamiliar to most of the 11-year-old scouts. The next morning, the 11-year-old patrol leader of the patrol to which the vulgar boy was assigned came to Bill Burch. He held in his hand the German soldier bolo and said that he found it in the vulgar boy’s pack. Burch told the young patrol leader to put it back. The boy protested saying, “You know he stole it.” Once again Brother Burch told him to “put it back,” and once again the boy protested but finally relented. The patrol leader put the coveted item into the vulgar boy’s pack, before anyone else awoke.

A little while later Brother Burch found the boy who originally won the German soldier. The boy was sad. He asked him what was wrong but the boy said nothing. He asked once again what was wrong? Once again the boy said that nothing was wrong. Then he asked him why he was not wearing the coveted bolo tie. The boy began to huff and puff with sadness. “Well, tell me about it, where is the bolo tie?” The young man said, “Bill, you know that new kid you sent down with us?”  “Yeah.” “Nobody liked him, Bill. Everybody was mean to him. Nobody liked him.” “Where is the bolo tie?” “Bill, he needed a friend.” Well, by this time you had an eleven year old scout and a scout leader with tears in their eyes. An eleven year old boy sensed a boy that was being mistreated, a boy that was broken hearted, and he gave his most prized possession. A simple wood carving, but he thought the world of it. He was willing to give it up, to cheer up a boy he did not know but who needed a friend.

The story puts the scout oath in perspective. “On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country, to help other people at all times…” Even if one is an eleven year old boy who does not know a great deal or a missionary (a new district leader, trainer, etc.). You and I can help.

We pray for blessings to be upon you as you reach out to be of service to those around you. You are a great example for your brothers. We love you. Have a good week.

Dad and Mom

P.S. I got your letter. The wrappers were great (and so was the letter). Any other wrappers or papers please send, I have an idea and I will have to see if it will work.