The Adventure Begins

Dear Folks at Home:

This is our first day as missionaries. Perhaps I should explain the title of this letter. My grandfather Lewis Fackrell moved to Thomas with his father in 1907 when he was 11 years old. He joined the army in November of 1917 and served in France during World War One. He wrote 110 letters home and they all began with the title “ Dear Folks at Home “.  Grandpa contracted spinal meningitis and was in a hospital in New Jersey for a lengthy period. He returned home on crutches. He was married to my Grandmother ,Amanda Dance , one month after he was home.  Grandma passed away in 1982 and for the next couple of years I spent time together with Grandpa until his passing in 1985. He shared with me some of the lessons he had learned in life. Grandma was his one great love in life. He told me that when they were married he was on crutches and the Doctors had told him he would not be able to walk unaided again. She married him anyway and he was able to prove the medical community wrong. He recovered from the effects of his disease to the point that anyone who knew him years later would have been surprised that he had been disabled. He had a little bit of a stubborn streak and in the early years , while still crippled from the disease,he would crawl on his hands and knees down the ditch bank to tend water. He ran a successful dairy operation and they lived a good life. After He had lost Grandma he told me one day that Grandma married him when there was no hope for him to recover. I’m firmly convinced that it was her faith in him that helped him to recover. And so out of tribute to Grandpa I will begin each letter Home. Pictured below is a file photo of the Salt Lake Mission Home in the 1970s.

 This is where I began my service in 1976.  My memories of those few days are vivid. We had a wonderful group of General authorities who spoke to us. We did back to back sessions in the  Salt Lake Temple with time for a lecture in the assembly room. It is also pictured below.  

Last evening Sheila and I were set apart by President Tracy Hawker. One of the blessings of the evening was that each of our boys were able to stand in the circle with us as we were blessed by our Stake President. We had a family dinner afterwards and it was touching as each of our sons and daughter in laws shared with us their impressions and feelings. As we leave today we don’t feel that we are leaving our family behind. In a spiritual sense they are going with us. Much of what we are and the strength we will need in this journey comes from their faith.