Fixing G'ma and G'pa's roof - October 2004

I have always been impressed with how much my father, his siblings, and their spouses helped G'ma and G'pa.  They have been such good examples to me.  I think my parents have ensured their care into their elderly years ;)  

This specific time Kenn and DeLynn enlisted some of the grandsons to help out with G'ma and G'pa's roof.  I was in town visiting from Maryland, and this was right before we left for the airport - we were grabbing one last visit.

Grandma, Natalie, Eden (on lap), Cumorah

At some point I yelled up to the guys to stand close so I could take a group photo:

KC, DeLynn, Kenn, G'pa, Christian, Gordon, Shawn

I'm sad that I didn't document the story at the time, because I can not for the life of me remember what I said after taking this first photo. *But* I Do remember the horrible feeling that came over me right as the words came out of my mouth, because I thought, "Oh, Grandpa is going to be so embarrassed that I said that!"  Well, this is what happened...

You can have fun figuring out who is who in this one ;)

I was laughing so hard I'm surprised the photo didn't end up blurry.  My eyes teared up, because ... look at G'pa.  What a sense of humor!

~Natalie Hansen Terry

Grandpa Hansen's Testimony

(Written for the Cascade Ward High Priest Book of Testimony)

My name is Gordon Emil Hansen.  I have lived a great many years here upon this earth and have seen many things.  New inventions and great progress has been made during my lifetime.  I shake my head in wonder to think of it all.  And through all this change, one thing stays constant: my testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.   I know the gospel to be true.  I find it a privilege to be a member of God’s church here on the earth.  I know that he has led and guided me.   

As I look back on my life, I have found it difficult to recall specific times that would be termed “spiritual experiences.”  Our family has always been blessed with the things they needed.  We have found happiness as we have lived the commandments.  My life and the lives of family members have been spared on various occasions. We know for a surety that the Lord watches over us.  But because of His quiet and constant care, my life’s experiences do not necessarily come with all the fanfare or miraculous surroundings that create a memorable spiritual experience. 

I know that a prophet leads and guides this church under the direction of Jesus Christ.  Most of us never get to come in contact with the prophet any more because the church is so large.  When I was a boy, the church was small enough that the prophet would attend our stake conferences.  As a young man I had become involved in the Boy Scouts of America Program.  I went further than any of my friends or other boys in my ward.  No one really encouraged me, but I thought it was important.  When I was about 15 or 16 years old, President Heber J. Grant came down from Salt Lake City and presided over our stake conference.  The Scouting Program was near to his heart and he pushed it hard whenever he could.  He wanted to encourage young men to become involved in the Scouting Program because he knew it would give them good practical skills, confidence and self mastery.  To encourage the young men in our stake to become scouts he asked the stake president to choose a young man from the stake who was a Boy Scout to come up and sit on the stand with all the leaders of the stake and those visiting from the General Presidency and auxiliaries.  The Stake President asked that I come and sit on the stand.  It was an impressionable experience for me.   It was the first time I had ever been that close to the Prophet of the Lord.   It was a great honor because I knew that this man talked with God and was chosen by God to lead our church. There was no doubt in my mind, even at that young age, that he was the prophet of the Lord. 

I have a testimony of the Law of tithing and of Sacrifice.  I know that the Lord opens the windows of heaven when we obey this commandment.  I chose teaching as my occupation, I taught 6th grade and I loved it.  Now, we all know that school teachers don’t make much money.   And even with our small income we were able to raise 4 children with testimonies of the true church.  Most of them went on to college and all of them married in the Temple to good spouses.  This is because we paid our tithing.  I have always believed in doing what the Lord asks us to do, even if it seems impossible.  Our family was never very rich and sometimes we didn’t always have the nicest things.  But the Lord took care of us. 

I believe the Lord helps us help ourselves.  He helped me see how I could supplement our income by painting and wallpapering houses at night.  This was difficult but I believe he gave me the energy and stamina to work two jobs.  Near to Christmas I was asked by a wealthy man to come and do some painting in his home.  It was just what we needed so we could have the money to give a decent Christmas to our young family.  I worked hard on that home and it looked good with a fresh coat of paint.  But I found that the doors looked dingy, they needed another coat of varnish.  It didn’t seem so at the beginning but next to all that new paint they paled in comparison.  I asked the man if he would be interested in having me varnish all of his woodwork.  He agreed that it would be good.  I purchased all the supplies and worked hard to get it done.  When the job was complete the man said that he would pay me for what we agreed on at the beginning.  But he would not pay me for any of the varnishing because it wasn’t what we agreed upon at the very beginning when I contracted to do the job.   This despite the fact that he had agreed for me to do it verbally and he knew I had purchased all the supplies with my own money. 

My wife and I were so disappointed.  We knew that no one would be hiring me to do any more work with Christmas so close.  No one would want their house torn up during the holidays. Soon after I returned home with my small earnings, someone from the church came to collect our building fund donation.  At that time we were trying to build a new ward building.  Everyone had worked on it. My wife had painted and I had varnished all the woodwork in the Relief Society Room. To help cover the building cost each family in the ward was asked to donate approximately one-thousand dollars to the building fund which we did in installments.  Men from the Elder’s Quorum were asked to go and collect the donations from the members and here they were at my house.  Where was I to get the money for the building fund?  I opened my wallet and took out the amount I had just earned which we were going to use for our children’s Christmas and all the other living expenses our family had—all the money in my wallet.  I gave it to the men and my wife and I prayed that we would somehow make it through. 

The next morning, bright and early, we received a phone call.  Someone wanted me to come and work on their house.  We never dreamed anyone would call so close to Christmas.  Here was the job that would bring the money we desperately needed.  The Lord always takes care of those who give him all that he requires. 

I have a testimony of service.  I know that the Lord desires that his children love and serve one another.  Sometimes it is difficult to always know how we can serve.  I love service opportunities and I have felt very grateful that I have always had callings to work in his church.  I have never lacked for opportunities to serve.  I look at other men that go without callings and I feel badly for them.  In my prayers at night I thank the Lord for allowing me to serve him.  Right now I count it a true blessing to have three great callings in our ward and stake.  Even without a calling, I have always loved to serve.  I thank the Lord for that I have abilities to help those in need.  The Lord has always helped me find ways to serve others, to fix things and make things nicer. 

I have had the opportunity to serve in various leadership capacities.  For 14 consecutive years I served in different bishoprics as a counselor and also as the bishop of a ward.  I know it was difficult for my family to be without me for long periods of time and to sit alone at church.  But I also know that the Lord blessed my family for their sacrifices. 

Being the bishop of a college ward was a fun challenge.  We grew to love the students as we’d have them out to our home for various activities and firesides.  Most of them were far from home and needed a father to go do with problems and wanted a family atmosphere, we were happy to stand in.   

On two different occasions we had members of our ward that wanted to serve missions but just couldn’t come up with the funds to do so.  When a person wants to serve a mission and needs resources it falls on the bishop to help them find a way.  There is a sequence a bishop takes.  First you go to their parents.  In the case of these two students, either their families were not members of the church or they were very poor and could not support their child.  Next in the sequence you would check with the extended family and then the ward family.  In each instance no financial support was available.  It was very important to each of these potential missionaries that they have the opportunity to serve.  I sensed that acutely because I myself never had the opportunity to serve a mission due to WWII and I had always wanted to do so. Therefore, my wife and I pondered and prayed about it. We had already sent both of our sons on missions in earlier years.  And as I said previously we never had much money, but when we felt impressed that the Lord intended us to help and support these missionaries we knew in our hearts we would be financially stable.  Even though we struggled we felt the hand of the Lord in our lives helping us along.  We never wanted or went without.  Instead we felt our blessings overflowing.  We grew to know and love these two missionaries.  Each has gone on to lead great lives and raise good families.  Their missions help to cement their testimonies of the Gospel. 

I have a testimony of the Priesthood.  I know it is the power of God on the earth.  I feel it a privilege to hold the Melchizedek Priesthood.  I have had the privilege of being asked to give family members priesthood blessings.  It was difficult, because I worried that my speech wasn’t perfect and that my grammar might be wrong.  Speaking has never been my strongest point and so any time I am asked to speak be it a talk in sacrament meeting, teaching a lesson, giving a prayer or blessing, I have always been rather nervous.  Nervous or not, when I’m asked to, I always do it. 

One granddaughter recalled that I gave her a grandfather’s blessing before she departed for the mission field.  During the blessing I was impressed to bless her that her smile would have an effect on certain people and it would help them want to know more about the gospel.  This blessing about her smile was different; it wasn’t one of the regular things people are blessed with.  It stayed with her and would come into her mind now and then when it was difficult and smiling didn’t come easy.  There was a time when she worked with and taught a husband and wife for five months.  When she left the area the couple had yet to be baptized.  She knew the woman was ready, but didn’t want to get baptized without her husband, and he didn’t want to give up his lifestyle.  Many months later my granddaughter was transferred back into that same stake and saw the man she had taught for so long.  He had been baptized received the priesthood and had the chance to baptize his wife.  He then told my granddaughter that many times he wanted to send the missionaries away; he wanted to tell the sisters to never come back.  But the thing that had stopped him was the smile of my granddaughter.  He knew there was something behind that smile and he needed to find it.  It made him look all the harder after she was transferred out of the area.  So often we don’t find out how the blessing we give play out in the lives and salvation of others.

In my life I have always made it a point that the Church comes first and it has always come first.  My wife and I desired to live good and righteous lives so we could set good examples first for our children then for our grandchildren and now for our great-grandchildren.  I want them to know that I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true and is the only way to find Eternal Life.

Grandma's Funeral: Life Sketch

The Life of LeLa Christensen Hansen
by Julie Earley

My Grandma loved many things, but today two things stand out to me:

          Greeting cards and Flowers. 

I wonder if Hallmark is going to feel the hit of my grandmother’s passing—I believe she kept them in business.  Not only could you always count on getting a birthday card from grandma, you knew that card was especially chosen for you.  She would have read through who knows how many cards until she hit upon the one the was “perfect for you.”  Many of us, her children or grandchildren, can remember getting the very same birthday card two years in a row.  That’s because it was still the card that described you the best. 

You knew she spent time, even when she could hardly walk, to go over and pick out a card just for you.   That’s an amazing feat when you consider that she was picking out cards for 4 children and their spouses and 23 grandchildren!  My mom and aunt were going through things at the house and found cards in sacks already picked out for grandchildren who’s birthdays were coming up! 

This was her love language, it was how she showed her love and it was also how she received love.  Last night we spent time going through the boxes, and I mean boxes, full of every birthday card, thank you note, Christmas card, valentine, etc, etc, that she’d received all neatly organized according to child or relative, etc. She kept them all and I know she would often read and reread the letters and cards we’d send. 

The second thing grandma loved was flowers.  Roses were her favorite, but she loved all different kinds.  Wherever they lived, you could count on Grandma’s flowers being beautiful.  Her children reminisced that they often awoke to the squeaking sound of the outside faucet being turned as Grandma watered her flowers every morning.  I was always amazed how quickly she could tell you the names of various flowers and she loved them all and saw beauty in every shape and color.  I’m sure many of you have enjoyed the roses here that line their property and all the beauty of their backyard garden. 

With that in mind I thought it apropos to share a few stories of her life through a poem I found on a card that my uncle had sent Grandma for mother’s day:

My mother kept a garden,

          a garden in her soul,

She allowed both rain and sunshine

          to help her garden grow

Just like sunbeams, birds and

          honeybees nourish and delight

She learned the best things in this world

          would help to set her right

And when the winds and rains came,

          she tried hard not to bend

And learned that through faith and trust,

          God’s blessings He would send.

My mother kept another garden,

          this one of the heart,

She planted all the good things there

          that gave my life it’s start

Her constant good example always

          taught me right from wrong—

Markers for my pathway

          that will last my whole life long.

I am my mother’s garden. 

          I am her legacy

And I hope today she feels the love

          reflected back from me.

My mother kept a garden, a garden in her soul,

She allowed both rain and sunshine to help her garden grow

The first stanza talks of allowing both rain and sunshine to help the garden grow. 

Grandma was born on May 29, 1922 into a sunshiney family, with a mama, papa, an older brother and 4 sisters whom she loved very much.

She grew up on a farm where her nurseryman father had an orchard and grew lots of fruits and vegetables and grandma spent her days working and playing with her sisters. 

MaMa & Grandma Kirkham

But Grandma’s young life had some rainy days.  When she was just 6 years old, her mama suffered a stroke and died.  She remembered being held up by her grandma Kirkham to see her mother in the casket.  She said that she couldn’t remember her face but she remembered her black hair.

Immediately following the funeral, LeLa’s grandmother Kirkham moved in to help with the children.  Grandma Kirkham was a stern little lady – tough pioneer stock.  She ran a tight and frugal ship.  She had a little black book she kept in the drawer next to the bread box and to keep the children in line, she threatened to put a “black mark” next to their names.  Little LeLa was scared out of her mind thinking that these “checks” would be next to her name.  Her younger sister Cleo didn’t care much for the black book and threatened checks, but it was the perfect method to get LeLa to obey.  Grandma Kirkham also made the girls underwear or bloomers out of cheap black sateen and the girls thought this was the most embarrassing thing that could possibly happen to them.  So out of style!  Living with Grandma Kirkham could be difficult at times. 

Just like sunbeams, birds and honeybees nourish and delight

She learned the best things in this world would help to set her right

The next stanza of our poem speaks of sunbeams, birds, and honeybees and how she learned that the best things would set her on the right path

Meldon

A couple years after her mama died, her papa married a girl named Meldon.  The children all knew and loved Meldon already because she was their mama’s niece.  The children didn’t know what they should call her because they already had a mama.  But the minute Meldon came to her new home, older brother Kenneth said, “We're glad you came, Mother" and after that – they all called her “mother.”  Meldon brought even more sunshine into their house.  She requested that every child have a photo of their mama by their bedside and grandma told me that often when she had done well in school or done something noteworthy her mother would say, “oh, your mama is so proud of you and so am I.” 

Worked Hard

One of the “best things” grandma learned was to work and work hard.  She said, “We five girls worked like boys.  We picked fruit, weeded the gardens, worked in the honey house, etc.”  She remembered crawling behind her dad as he placed the buds in the seedlings.  She would wrap to hold the bud in place.  It seemed such a tiresome job at the time, but while they worked, her dad would tell stories of his life and teach her important things.  And it became a time she looked back on with great fondness.

Honeybees

And who could forget the honeybees?!  As a child I remember we’d be outside at a picnic or something and a bee would fly near and we’d scream and run away or try to shoo it away.  Grandma would always say, “oh no, it’s just a honeybee they’re nice.”

Prayer

Another time when she was 10, her mother was ill.  My grandma watched the doctor go into her mother’s bedroom and close the door and she got scared and started to cry.  Her papa put his arms around her and told her to go pray for mother.  He told her Heavenly Father would hear her prayer and Mother would soon be well again.  She did get better and from that point on, grandma had a strong testimony of prayer.

And when the winds and rains came, she tried hard not to bend

And learned that through faith and trust, God’s blessings He would send.

The poem next talks about not bending in the wind and rain and if we put our trust in God – blessings always follow.

Scarlet Fever

Grandma had to deal with some sad and scary things.  When she was 13 she caught Scarlet Fever and was in bed for many weeks.  To make sure she didn’t make her family sick, she went next door to Grandpa Christensen’s house.  It was hard being away from her loving family but she was industrious during this time and made many quilt blocks which were later made into 5 large quilts by her daughters and granddaughters. 

Tumor

Then, when she was a junior in highschool she developed a large lump which turned out to be a tumor on her neck.  Because Grandma sat very still and never cried or squirmed during her doctor visits, the doctor called her, “My little brick.”  Her doctor was concerned that the tumor was cancerous so they decided to remove it.  When her doctor came in right before the surgery he asked, “So how’s my little brick?” and her Mother said, “Oh she is just a little worried about the ether.”  “Oh there’s nothing to be worried about, we’re just going to give you a couple of shots and you won’t feel a thing.”  The tumor was very close to the juggler vein and they had to cut from the ear down to her throat.  Grandma was awake for the whole 3 ½ hour surgery.  At one point the doctor said, “Now you have got to hold completely still or it will mean your life.” 

That scared Grandma so much she clenched the small mattress with her fingers and dug her heels into the bed.  At the end of the surgery it all went well but she had bad finger nails and bruises on her heels.  The doctor came into to her and said, “Well, you really are my little brick!”  They also gave her X-ray treatments which was something they did before modern radiation treatments.  The x-ray treatments were horrible and it made her tumor black before it was removed.

Losing Mother & finding Gordon

Another difficulty that Grandma had to go through was losing her mother.  A year before she died her mother was bed ridden and Grandma lived with her parents in a small duplex and took care of her mother during that last year.  Shortly after her mother died, she went to a dance in provo and met a handsome serviceman named Gordon Hansen.  They danced quite a few dances and he asked her out.  She was dating another boy at the time named Harold Gordon.  Grandpa went off for to serve on a 6-week cruise to Japan and he was very happy to find out that grandma was still be available when he got back home.  He said that he knew he needed to work fast – “to cut him off at the pass”.  And he won.  Grandma told me that Herold Gordon was a good man who was very handsome and he had his own car.  He would have been a good catch, but she knew she chose the right man to be her husband. 

They got married June 10, 1946 – one year later they had their first child, Ken – two years later my mother JaNae, then Delynn and then Shellee which brings us to our next stanza:

 My mother kept another garden, this one of the heart,

She planted all the good things there that gave my life it’s start

This stanza is about motherhood and the things she taught her children

Prayer

They always had family prayer – every morning the family knelt around the parent’s bed.  You never questioned it.  If someone had to leave really early in the morning, it didn’t matter everyone had to get up to have family prayer.  Even up until she died, they always prayed together in the morning.

Memorize talks

Memorize talks for church.  There were no notes for church.  That was the worst part of giving a talk.  Her children all told me that giving a talk to the ward was nothing compared to giving it to mom.  One uncle said it was that memorizing that helped him get through school, especially with medical books.

Love of Music

She gave all her kids a love for music.  She played the tuba and piano and she danced.  She sang to her children.  She had so many little songs she used to sing but her children remembered them and sang them to their own children.  And those songs are now being passed on to the next generation. 

“I married a good mother”

Life wasn’t easy.  Grandma was raising 4 children when times were tough.  Money was tight and grandpa often had to work two jobs and wasn’t home often.   He told me last night, you know, I married into a great thing.  Your grandma was a great catch.  She was a good mother who never complained that I was gone so much working.  She had to raise those kids mostly alone.  She made sure our children were well behaved and made good choices.  When I was in the bishopric I’d look down and see families who’s kids were rowdy, but my children always sat still and were reverent.

Her constant good example always taught me right from wrong—

Markers for my pathway that will last my whole life long.

Book of Mormon

The family moved to Las Vegas so my grandpa could get a better teaching job.  Grandma had a really hard time being away from her sisters.  Looking back she wondered if she experienced depression during that time.  She began reading the Book of Mormon every day.  She developed a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon and she later testified to her children and told them how much it had helped her.  I know that in her later years she would play the Book of Mormon on tape as she put puzzles together and she said it continued to bring peace to her.

Temple

Later when the children were grown and nearly gone from home.  She and grandpa made a decision to go to the temple every week.  It was often very difficult to get everything ready and out the door. Sometimes they wondered if they’d every make it.  One night when it was especially difficult to get there, she sat down and though, “does anyone even care that I’m here?” And at that moment she felt arms around her and felt someone saying “thank you” and then later on in the session she felt that this sister was with her and grateful for her service.

Service in the church

Many of you know that grandma had an eye problem that made it very difficult to read and yet she continued with extraction work and endured through the difficulty because she knew what she was doing was important.

Even in her later years when it became too difficult to go to church, she still held a calling as a VT’ing supervisor and she was faithful every month. 

 I am my mother’s garden.  I am her legacy 

And I hope today she feels the love reflected back from me.

Grandma showed her love, as I said, through cards.  But she also told us often that she loved us or that she was proud of us.  She’d say “I know I shouldn’t be proud, but I’m sure proud of ya – the good kind of proud.”  Or she’d say “I’m ‘pleased’ and proud of ya!”

She did something else that showed how much she loved us.  She worried about us.  She worried about all of us, her children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren.  (She’s always say I’m a Great Grandma, heavy on the ‘great’)

Before I married I traveled a lot as part of my job.  Grandma worried about me all the time.  She’d make me tell her my schedule and where I was traveling during the month so she would know when to start worrying.  As annoying as it was, her worrying was her way of thinking of others – she always had great concern for our happiness and wellbeing.  I know that she prayed nightly for her children and grandchildren by name.

On day as we were driving in car together, she told me how worried she was that I wasn’t married.  I told her “Grandma, you don’t need to worry – I’m not.  I’m doing everything Heavenly Father has asked me to do.  I’m being faithful so I don’t have to worry and stress about it.  It will happen when it’s supposed to happen.” Later after I married she told me that when she would start to worry and she’d remember back to that time and stop.  “And here you are, all married with children, you knew all along that it would be ok.  I need to have faith like that.” Even during the last visit I had with her a few weeks ago she brought it up with tears in her eyes.

[I wrote the end of the talk after I printed this and I can’t find my notes so I’ll have to add it in later when I come across it.]