Letter from Pa and Ma

I thought I would try posting a letter instead of a picture this time. If you click on it to enlarge it, it becomes legible. This one is from Joseph Thomas Wilkinson to his son SRW Wilkinson, my grandfather dated August 13, 1909.

We have arrived

O.K. its official now. Gas is under $2.00 a gallon. Of course this is not a pay-at-the-pump store so you have to walk in to pay for your gas, but hopefully it is a harbinger of things to come. Suzanne snapped this one on her way out and about today. Looks like you can't actually see the sign without clicking on the picture to enlarge it.

Things I hope you will teach my grandchildren

Some people say they cannot believe in a God because if there was a God and he was good, he wouldn’t allow all the pain and suffering and hardships to happen to all of us. You have all seen the weights that joggers and walkers attach to their ankles and wrists to give them extra resistance. They are in good enough physical condition that they can’t get enough resistance in the time they have by walking or jogging without them to develop the desired strength and stamina. I think of handicaps and trials that we have in life in somewhat the same terms. The Lord knows our strengths and weaknesses and some of us are too far advanced to be able to develop sufficient spirituality, humility, or whatever other virtues we need without the extra resistance in this life.

The point is we have to have faith that God knows us and loves us enough that he will tailor our mortal experience to our needs so that we have the opportunity for the maximum possible development according to our progress thus far. It is this eternal perspective that the gospel provides that allows us to bear our trials and infirmities with patience and even, as some are able to do, with grace and cheerfulness. I always admire those who, like the sister in our ward who was paralyzed at a young age in an accident, can go through life with a cheerful, upbeat attitude in spite of handicaps and hardships. I wish I was more like that.

Great Grandparents

This is a wedding picture of my great grandparents (parents of SRW Wilkinson) Joseph Thomas Wilkinson and Jane Sarah Wells in 1881. She was his second wife. The first wife was Elizabeth Emily Wells, her half sister if I remember correctly, but may have been a cousin.

These are pictures of them in their later years.

Good news and bad

I was at the Wal-Mart on Military Dr. and I-410 yesterday and the gas price was $2.36 per gal. With the 3 cent discount that is $2.33 a gallon, almost reasonable again. I was going to get a picture but I didn't get a chance. Unfortunately the lines were so long waiting to get to the gas pumps that I decided it wasn't worth the wait. Maybe they will still be low on my way to work tomorrow at 7:00 AM and the lines will not be so long.

I know it's necessary but it is still annoying. They cut the access road down from 3 lanes to 1 lane for the construction where we get on I-410 at Bandera. There was such a long line we decided to take another route yesterday. Unfortunately, that is the way I drive to work every day. I can just imagine what it will be like after Thanksgiving when all the Christmas shoppers are trying to get to Ingram Mall.

SRW Wilkinson basketball team

This is the team my grandfather played on at the Branch Normal School in Cedar City. Harold Herbert Wilkinson #3, his brother who was 6 years older than him, was the coach. The guy in the center, J.W. Barton, was the faculty adviser.

Here is another picture of the team. Don't know which years these were.

Blessed Relief

O.K. so its not a very good photo but it is nice to see the prices coming down finally. This is the Wal Mart in our area where we generally shop. With the Wal Mart card the price is 3 cents less making it $2.78 a gallon. Just thought you might like to see one of the advantages of living in Texas.

There are disadvantages, of course, like the neighbors that come uninvited and eat up all your groceries. (If you click on the photo below to enlarge it, you can see them more clearly.) This is the parsley in our patio herb garden.

Things I hope you will teach my grandchildren

Some of the conference talks today alluded to the fact that one of the reasons the early church members could not establish Zion in Jackson County was that they were not united and could not live the law of consecration. I think that is one of the major stumbling blocks in the Church today. I will call it elitism, the attitude that one is somehow better than others, among the elite. There are various flavors of elitism – intellectual elitism, social elitism, financial elitism, fashion elitism, racial elitism, gender elitism, born-in-the-church vs. convert elitism, ancestry elitism, national elitism, and on and on. This is a difficult issue for me and I suspect many others. I find myself criticizing others for various traits that they have that I think are odd, annoying or unpleasant instead of recognizing that they are just people trying to do the best they can with what life has dealt them. We do not know what other people have to deal with. Until we can learn to truly have charity for others and adopt an attitude of caring and helping rather than criticizing and belittling, we will not be able to develop the type of unity that is necessary for a Zion society.

The times that we know about in the scriptures when a Zion society was achieved have been possible because the people achieved a unity and equality that extended to all people and all aspects of their lives. “And the Lord called his people ZION, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.” (Pearl of Great Price | Moses 7:18).

“And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people. And there were no envyings, nor strifes, . . . . .neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of –ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God. (Book of Mormon | 4 Nephi 1:15 - 17)

New Thread

I have decided to start a new thread that I will call "Things I hope you will teach my grandchildren". I have delayed doing this because I don't want to sound too preachy or too heavy but today's conference talks tipped me over the edge. I will post on an irregular basis my thoughts that I feel are worthwhile passing on to future generations. You can ignore them if you please.

Dad and Mom

These are not very good pictures but they are among the few that I have of dad and mom when they were young.

Veda and her Father

This is a picture of my grandmother Veda Bringhurst Wilkinson in her later years, as I remember her, and her father William Augustus Bringhurst.