The Grandparent Chronicles

  DENNIS ROY STONE- TRIBUTE TO A LIFE WELL LIVED            February 9, 1935- November 6, 2021 On November 12, 2021 family and friends gathered to pay tribute to a life well lived.   I first met Dennis Stone when I began dating his oldest daughter Annette but I knew his family much sooner.   Doxey and June (Dennis’s parents) lived at the corner of 12 th St and Porter Ave. in Ogden, Utah just a few blocks away from our home on 14 th St. We all belonged to the Ogden 7 th Ward. His brother Roy was my brother Byron’s age and Colleen (Dennis’s oldest sister (yet younger than him by 14 years) was my age and we all attended the Old Mound Fort Jr High and then Ben Lomond High School. When I started dating Annette, Naomi, Annette’s mother     was expecting Chad. Grandpa Phipps   (Naomi’s father) was living with the family at the time.   I remember Dennis as a young, handsome, athletic guy who loved basketb...

Cindy and Don Staheli Mons,Belgium 1970 ( branch activity) Elder Wade, Elder Staheli & a member “…and behold, this was a joyful meeting.” (Alma 27:16) You are probably familiar with the Book of Mormon account of Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah.(Mosiah 27).After persecuting the church and being called to repent by an angel, Alma followed in his father’s footsteps and became a leader in the government and the church.   The sons of Mosiah went on a mission to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the Lamanites. After 14 years of service, having endured many hardships but also having had much success, they encounter Alma the younger as they were returning home.   The scriptures record this chance reunion and describe it as “a joyful meeting”. Recently, I had such a joyful meeting!   51 years ago in Mons, Belgium, I served with a wonderful missionary named Don Staheli. That’s not a very common name so when we discovered that an Elder Staheli was serving in ...

             B E C A U S E     I    S A I D    S O !   Discipline is not something most parents are good at.   When frustrated by a child who persists in questioning your discipline, have you ever resorted to the #1 parental go to logic? “Because I said so!”   For many couples, disciplining children can be the biggest source of conflict in their marriage. Often, one parent is know for being the “Disciplinarian” while the other parent is a “Softie.” Children aren’t dumb and become very skilled at playing one parent against the other.   The focus then shifts from how to properly discipline to the friction these differences cause in a marriage.   Most parents believe that some discipline is necessary, they just can’t get on the same page as to how.   Elder D.Todd Christofferson taught (Ensign May 2011) “Parents can and must correct; even chasten, if their children a...

  When life serves you Lemons… It’s not often we get comments on an issue of the Grandparent Chronicles, but May’s issue- “Did God Make A Mistake?” a message on same sex attraction, was the exception.   The reader questioned why there were no comments or questions from others, then suggested that we tackle the reality of a person born with no hands or legs. There are a few possibilities for a question like this. 1- An attempt to point out that maybe God does make mistakes after all. 2- To question the power or even existence of God. 3- A genuine desire to know why an all powerful and loving God allows these types of "Infuriating Unfairnesses" to be. All three motives deserve an answer. Even if a satisfactory answer may not be within our finite capacity to comprehend, at least one should be attempted. A good place to start is always in the scriptures.   I must confess as did Nephi (1 Ne 11:17) “I know that he (God) loveth his children, nevertheless, I do not...

               AMERICA-    WHAT’S SO SPECIAL ?                                          July 2021   At least since the end of World War 2 there has been an anti-American sentiment among our own, often on college campuses and among the rising generation. From flag burnings to anti-American slogans and demonstrations, from kneeling protests during our national anthem to claims of systemic racism to the destruction of national monuments once revered. Although America has made mistakes and is far from perfect, it remains true that this is a chosen land and that God has had a divine purpose for this land of ours.   The scriptures bear this out.   At the confounding of language at the tower of babel approx. 4,000 BC, upon praying to the lord, the brother of Jared was told; (Ether 1:42)…I will go b...

            ELLA JUNE LEAVITT STONE      It was a miracle that brought life to a lifeless Ella June Leavitt (Annette’s grandmother) who was born breech and not breathing.  Quoting from her biography- “On a cold day in June ( June 27, 1913)I was born to LeRoy H. and Ella Linderman Leavitt, their 5 th child.  It had been raining a great deal so it became necessary to build a wood fire in the kitchen range.  My mother, bless her, had had a very bad month. I was supposed to have been born the first part of the month of June but being in the wrong position, I had made it very difficult.  Mother had two doctors and a midwife.  I was born feet first and face up.  The doctors said, “the baby’s gone, just work on the mother.”  Fortunately for me, the midwife picked me up.  I wasn’t breathing.  She used mouth to mouth resuscitation and worked over me until I began to breath.  I was cleaned up, dr...

  DID GOD MAKE A MISTAKE ?   Years ago, when I was serving as a Bishop, I had the privilege of interviewing  two men on different occasions who had in essence the same question- Did God make a mistake?   Let me share their stories. The 1 st we’ll call Joe.   Joe was married with several small children and a lovely wife.   Both he and his wife were hard workers in the church and in their occupations.   Joe was a good guy with lots of great qualities.   The one challenge he was facing was a same sex attraction.   I admired his candor and his courage.   He didn’t know why he had these feelings, but they were real, and he was tired of fighting it.   We prayed, read scriptures, testified, shed tears and together felt the Lord’s love for him. Ultimately though, he left his wife and children and the church to follow his attractions and I never heard from Joe again.   His wife and children were heart broken but Joe was convinced...