Last week when we went to do sealings, Brother Larsen said he had a book to give back to me. It was one of the books I had given him for the church history collection of things from the Tahitian mission.  I guess they had one of these books already. 

Anyway, we were talking about the book and he was telling us that it's a collection of the fundamentals of the gospel  and favorite scriptures that they used to teach investigators.

He said what was interesting though was that he noticed while he was looking through the book that the person that wrote it was President Stevens...Brother Larsen said that President Stevens was his mission President too.  He went on about what a great man he was and how loved him and his wife were by all the missionaries.  Oh how I wished I could talk to daddy about these things!  I got to thinking about it after I got home and was putting the book away with daddy's other things from Tahiti.  I noticed daddy's journal from his mission and started thumbing through it.  I started reading and haven't been able to put it down.  I decided since I'm reading, I might as well get it typed into the computer while I read...then everyone can enjoy it.  It's been so great to learn about this part of daddy's life.  He used to say a few things every now and then,  and he did talk to Kelley quite a bit about his time on his mission and in the war, but I really didn't know what it was like for him.  When we went through the trunks he brought home from his mission, we were amazed at the amount of things he was able to bring home.  He had tons of shells, and neat things made out of shells (belts, purses,) lots of pretty things made out of coconut shells and woven out of the leaves, and some real nice grass skirts that were all decked out with shells.  We all wished we had sat down and talked to him about all these things so we could learn the story behind them.  Now I think we may be able to do just that.  I've only gotten through the first couple months of his mission, but I've already learned a lot about what it was like for him and how he felt about what he was doing...just reading this, I can picture daddy on the ship  "Limrick" and on the island of Pepeete. He tells about his companion Elder Chugg ( also from Providence) and mentioned President Stevens several times and it sounds like he felt the same way about him as Brother Larsen did. He is very descriptive and real in his writing  and has such a way with words, I feel like I could be right there talking with him. 

This is the journal he wrote in...I think "Tere" was his Tahitian name. 

 This is how he started his journal...

Just when I think I can't love my dad any more, my heart has been filled to overflowing as the years he spent on his mission are opened up before me.

 In honor of his birthday on Saturday...a few other  pictures from his younger life

 Love and miss you daddy.