Families Are Forever

 “To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with.”   ~ Mark Twain

      I am looking at a honeymoon picture of a couple holding hands across a small table at the famed Copacabana in Miami.  The couple were married January 31, 1947 in Decatur, Illinois.   The groom is Bruce Barton Turner; his bride is my husband’s favorite cousin, Cora Ruth Walker.

Bruce and Cora Ruth

      From 1944 to 1946, Bruce served as a first lieutenant in the 1st Air Command Group 6th Fighter Squadron.  Cora Ruth still has a silk scarf that Bruce wore wrapped around his neck as an aviator.  The scarf is printed on both sides with a map of the China-Burma-India Theater covered by his squadron.  During World War II, silk scarves were printed with maps of enemy territory so that if airmen were shot down, the silk map would help them to avoid capture or find their way to safety.

I'll be home with "Wings"  love, Bruce

         Fortunately, Bruce Turner never needed his scarf map.  He returned home safely on February 26, 1946 from his service, having earned the Air Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Asiatic-Pacific Theater Ribbon with two battle stars, the American Theater Ribbon, and the WWII Victory Medal.

         On March 28, 1946, Cora Ruth and Bruce went on their first date and attended a basketball game in Charleston, Illinois.  They had met at a friend’s “coming out” party five years earlier when Cora Ruth was 16, but hadn’t seen each other since.  During the party, there was a Cinderella dance in which the girls each put one of their shoes in the center of the circle of boys.  The boys then drew out one shoe and were paired up to dance with the shoe’s rightful owner.  You guessed it – Bruce drew out Cora Ruth’s shoe!

       The night that I met Cora Ruth for the first time, she was a widow, standing next to the open casket of her husband of thirteen years.  At her side, showing poise and maturity beyond his years, was her twelve-year old son, Keil, the eldest of five children.  It was August 1960 at a mortuary in Mattoon, Illinois.

         I had already met Cora Ruth’s parents and was impressed with their intelligence, good manners, and gracious hospitality.  I soon discovered that Cora Ruth had the same traits to a polished degree.  I think we were both attracted to each other and for many years have enjoyed keeping in touch with letters and pictures, birthday and Christmas cards.  We each have a birthday in the month of August and have rarely missed exchanging cards.  Cora Ruth has come west to be a guest in our home several times and I have been welcomed to her lovely home many times when I traveled east.

       We both are elementary school teachers.  We both love art, music, physical fitness, books, travel, and playing the piano.  We both are dedicated to the religion we have embraced: I am Mormon and Cora Ruth has been a member of the First Christian Church in Mattoon for over sixty years.  We both sang in our church choirs for well past 50 years.  I sang soprano, Cora Ruth was an alto.  We both stopped singing for the same reason: We didn’t like the sound of our voice! There is a special bond between us.

Cora Ruth Turner and Florence Butler

                                                         
                                                           *******   

      Today, January 31, 2013  would have been Bruce and Cora Ruth’s 66th wedding anniversary. There is no picture to memorialize this anniversary but I am observing this date by visualizing Bruce and Cora Ruth as they would look holding hands across the altar in a Mormon Temple if they were kneeling to be sealed, not just for time, but for all eternity. 

    So why do I have this dream for them, and why does the possibility of seeing that dream come true mean so much to me? Let me count the ways.

•     FIRST on the list, the love I have for Cora Ruth runs deep; she is dear to me and she is deserving.  We are part of each other’s lives; we are part of the same family. 

      It is natural to want the best of everything for your family.  It’s an emotion that goes way back through the ages.  Father Lehi, a beloved Book of Mormon prophet had the same feelings 600 years before Christ.  He saw in a vision a tree, a tree whose fruit “was desirable to make one happy.”  He partook of the fruit, found that it was sweet above all that he had ever before tasted, and white “to exceed all the whiteness” that he had ever seen.

      And as he partook of the fruit, his soul was filled “with exceeding great joy.” 

     “Wherefore,” he wrote, “ I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also; for I knew that it was desirable above all other fruit.”  (1 Nephi 8:12 Book of Mormon)

•    SECOND,  just as it has given me happiness to think of Bruce and Cora Ruth as a married couple in this life, it is an even more exhilarating feeling to imagine the joy that would come if they were still married when they meet again.

      Elder Russell M. Nelson, one of our Twelve Apostles, explains it in words that I like:

       “The noblest yearning of the human heart is for a marriage that can endure beyond     death .”

•    The THIRD reason that I hope for a temple marriage has to do with the wonderful reunion that I think is in store for Bruce, Cora Ruth and their children.  Cora Ruth and her four sons and one daughter have had a lifetime of identifying themselves as a family, living together, and enjoying one another's company. They have been without their father but they have never forgotten him, just as I am certain that Bruce has not forgotten them.  It’s easy to imagine the joy and emotion that Bruce’s family would experience to welcome him back into their lives.  As for Bruce, I think he would be ecstatic to see his family and be with them again!


                                                The Bruce Turner Family

Bryce, Barry, Cora Ruth, Keil, Crystal and Craig

      Spencer W. Kimball, the twelfth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has promised that the  “most beautiful relationships of parents and children can be made permanent. The holy association of families can be never-ending if husband and wife have been sealed in the holy bond of eternal matrimony. Their joys and progress will never end . . .”


Sources

1.  The picture of Bruce and Cora Ruth and information about their courtship and Bruce’s military service was featured in the  KC Summers Family Album, Newsletter, Volume 12, September 2002.

2.   Pictures of Bruce Turner in uniform, and family picture of the Bruce Turner Family courtesy Craig Turner.

Elder Breeze in Siberia

Post Number 003                                                                              Florence Griffin Butler


                                           Elder Breeze in Siberia

One of the experiences of joy that go with being a Mormon is so sweet that I have to mention it early on.  It happens to those of us who are in touch with someone who is serving a mission and we get to read the letters (usually emails) the missionary writes home once a week.

The emails I have the privilege of looking forward to each Monday morning are from Elder Stephen Breeze who is serving in the Russia Vladivostok Mission.
 

                                                    Elder Stephen Breeze


By way of brief introduction: My parents, Dewey and Alice Griffin are the parents of eight children, 39 grand-children, and 126 great-grandchildren.  Stephen is one of those 126 great-grandchildren.  His mother Deann, who was a Griffin before her marriage to Taylor Breeze, is my niece.  I don’t really know Stephen and wouldn’t recognize him walking down the street even if he were wearing his missionary name tag. But reading his letters gives me such an emotional attachment and appreciation for what he has been doing for over a year now that I have learned to love him all the way to Pluto and back.  Read just one excerpt from an email he wrote after a few months in Russia and I think you will see what I mean:

   "The mission has been really great so far.   I didn't know so much happiness could come from serving others although the language is really hard and I often feel useless. I'm loving it here and I can't wait until I can freely express myself."

                                             Elder Furhiman and Elder Breeze


Stephen’s hometown is Midway, Utah which is one hour and 16 minutes from Alta, one hour and 15 minutes from Snowbird, and 31 minutes from Park City – three ski resorts famous for The Greatest Snow on Earth.  Stephen traded the joys of skiing in the Wasatch for life minus skiing in Sub-Zero temperatures in Siberia.  He cheerfully accepted the contrast.  On December 10, 2012 he wrote:

 "Well, Experienced the coldest day of my entire life on Saturday, -35.   Everything froze,  my eye lashes, nose, everything, super crazy, on my face. It felt like I was skiing really fast on a cold day. Crazy.  We only lasted 30 minutes.  We tried to search for potentials but we didn't make it. And the only people on the street were either running or drunk.   Super crazy and  kinda fun.  It's been in the mid -20's today and Sunday,  so not so bad."

Before becoming a missionary, Stephen was a college student enrolled at Utah State University.  He is an artist and wants to use art in some way in a profession.  He may be a candidate for architecture.  Shortly after his nineteenth birthday in October 2011, he entered the Mission Training Center (MTC) in Provo to study Russian and prepare to be a missionary. He arrived in Russia in April 2012.   His formal academic schedule was interrupted, but his education continues in Russia where he is gaining valuable lessons from real-life situations:

   "In the Car ride home, Valodia always insists that he drive us home, Valodia told us Russian history as Russians see it.  Turns out they all liked communism, He said that life was simpler and much happier and there wasn't much crime or poverty. He told us he was 16 when the communism fell and he said life was anarchy with no order. He also told us about all the crazy things he did as a Hoolagan .... But he is a new man now."

                                                    Valodia and Family
                                         

Every three months, visas expire and missionaries from the United States have to leave the country and reenter with a new visa.

Stephen in Kiev, Ukraine

Stopover in Moscow.  Stephen in front of St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square.

Reading an email that Stephen sent in  December, I was reminded of John 13 in which he tells of the night before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to depart out of this world unto the Father.  This is when Christ told his disciples, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”  The email Stephen sent goes like this:

  "I love the people here and there are some really great people, but I've got to be honest Russia is a really sad place. We got a gypsy looking lady to go to church and her two kids. That’s when I found out everyone here is really racist.  Even the members, which is really too bad because she really liked church but no one would talk to her.  She has a long way to go.  She doesn't read and she smokes all the time.  Even in-between meetings at church she had to go out and have a smoke. But a really humble lady and she believes everything we teach her. It’s just too bad but everyone is so mean to her because of what she looks like."




When I read that I thought, ”That's it.  There it is.  A perfect example of what the Savior was talking about.” Stephen is not just a missionary; he is also a disciple.  He finds joy in serving the Lord and blessing people’s lives with Christ-like love.  The people he meets find joy feeling the warmth of a smile of acceptance and Christ-like words of kindness.



And half-way around the planet from them,  I am filled with indescribable joy just thinking about the way Stephen is validating an all-time favorite scripture:

    By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. (John 13:34)

Knocking on Doors

Success in conveying the ways I find joy in my religion will happen, if I can communicate by the spirit in such a way that it speaks to your soul and touches your heart. 

Let’s see how I’m doing, starting with . . . the joys of proselytizing.  Proselytizing is what Mormon missionaries do when they go out in the world to preach the gospel. 

My first-hand experiences with proselytizing came after my husband retired and we served as missionary companions in Venezuela and Peru.  We wore name tags pinned on our lapel that read, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” For us, it symbolized taking the Savior’s name upon us and we wore that tag over our hearts. We knocked on doors and did our best to ingratiate ourselves to anyone who answered:  “We are representatives of Jesus Christ with a message he wants us to share with you.  He knows you by name; he loves you.  He wants you to come home.  May we come in and explain how he would like to bless your life?” 

Ninety-five percent of the time, we were rejected.  An elder who served a mission in Texas described it this way: 

       "We knocked and waited for a whole litany of responses that ranged from courteous and civil to curiously bland and blunt: 'I already have a church.' 'Why don't you call on my neighbor? She listens to the Tabernacle Choir every Sunday morning.'  'Can't talk right now.  I have a doctor appointment.'  'You were here six months ago!'  'I told you the last time not to come back!'   Sometimes – rarely, but sometimes – even a coveted invitation to come in.
   
      "We knocked and waited with radar sensitivity for barely audible sounds.  Vibrations, really.  Imagined whispers that made us shiver in an awkward sort of way.  Someone was home, but not answering."

“So how,” you are probably wondering, “did you find joy in doing that?  Are you trying to tell me there is joy in being rejected?”

Not really.  It wasn’t about the rejections.  We weren’t there to win a popularity contest.  We were there to answer a call from the Savior to preach his gospel to all nations.  The pleasure we found was the presence that accompanied us, the soul-tingling sense of a spiritual companion that was both magnetic and majestic. 

We were sent out to reprove and to teach and we found joy in the Savior’s promise recorded in latter-day scriptures:

   "And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up."  (Doctrine & Covenants 84:88)

Because the charge to proclaim the gospel is still in effect, I now have a commitment to assist our Father in Heaven as “an everyday missionary.”   I am knocking on your door via the internet.  If you are willing to invite me into your life, it will be my pleasure to invite you to come unto Christ. 


He is waiting to welcome you home with outstretched arms, with love and affection, with kindness and tenderness, benevolence and mercy, compassion and healing, patience and humility, purity and divinity, justice and virtue, confidence and optimism, enthusiasm and

                                                .  .  .   JOY!

A BLOG ABOUT JOY

A BLOG ABOUT JOY                                             About Me:  Florence Griffin Butler

Hello and welcome to my blog.

The ostensible reason for me to start a blog is that I like to write.  I started writing at age seven when I discovered the joys of sending and rewards of receiving mail addressed to and from Miss Florence Griffin, P. O. Box 27, Clarkston, Utah. (Population: 600)  Seventy-five years later, I am still fascinated with what makes writing “nature’s chief masterpiece.” ***

I like to write, but I don’t need a blog to find an audience for emails, updates, and newsletters.  For that, I only need email addresses to be in touch with family and friends.  Their compliments and encouragement are like oxygen to my soul.

The real reason for doing a blog, is that I am Mormon ~ which is a short way of saying that I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.   I am showing up on the internet to share what it’s like to experience a religion that teaches, “Men are that they might have joy.” (2 Nephi 2:27 Book of Mormon) 

Doing a blog  provides a way to communicate with someone for whom I have no email address.  It is a way to put a note inside a bottle and toss it into the ocean of cyberspace, having faith that someone who is curious to know more will read it.

My goal is to post a series of essays talking about experiences of joy that have made an impact on me, the scriptures that give meaning to those experiences, and why I truly want to share what I have learned. 

I’ll be back with more.  I hope you will accept an invitation to be here with me.

         *** Of all the arts in which the wise excel,
                     Nature’s chief masterpiece is writing well.

                              –John Sheffield