From Dad

Hello Josh,

Spring is here. 

The next time we see spring come in you will be more than half way done. I can remember when Jacob was out it took me a while to get used to him not being around when things in life happen and he wasn't around. When it got close for him to come home I had to start thinking of him being around again when things happen around here. That was weird. I see this pattern starting over with you and to be honest with you is one of the greatest blessings I will receive in live. I hope you realize Josh that your mission gives you an opportunity to qualify for the blessings of heaven. Not just for you but for your family as well. 

In your last letter I really appreciated your honesty. You said clearly that things had not been going very well in that you were having trouble finding people to teach. That's the reality of a mission. There are going to be times when things don't go your way. Your challenge is to look for God's blessings every day. They are there everyday and you can see them if you are looking for them. If you don't look for them then the struggles and adversity will really get you down. Believe me Josh, your mother and I hope and pray that you will not have that happen. Our prayers are that you will find reason to be out there in spite of the trials you will face. 

Some interesting things have happened last week. I got a call from the Salt Lake Tribune. They want to do a story about a legendary Utah historical figure that has to do with our family history. I don't know if you've ever heard me talk about the murder of my great-grandfather John Gibson Morrison and his son John Arling Morrison but the guy that murdered them was a guy by the name Joe Hill. He ended up being put to death by firing squad for it and this was done exactly 100 years ago. Last Thursday a couple of reporters came to the house and spoke with me and Aunt Merylin about what our family knew about this. I had been gathering stuff like pictures, videos and some audio recordings about it and I showed some of it to them. They were blown away by it because they had no idea that our family had a version of the story to tell. In all the history books, the story is about Joe Hill. Virtually nothing is ever mentioned about what happened to John Gibson Morrison's family following the murder. These reporters actually changed their plans on how they were going to report on Joe Hill and now they want to focus on the story of the Morrison's. They are going to interview my dad, Aunt Merylin and maybe some of their cousins and do a piece in the newspaper later this year. They also want to interview me since I'm a descendant and know a lot about what happened. 

So how's that for crazy?? I'm pretty excited about it because I love family history and this gives me a little more reason to really dive in and put things together that I can share with the rest of our family. You and your bothers and sisters and cousins know very little about this story. I want to change that. There is a saying that I love. When I was in high school it saw it at the top of the library at the University of Colorado. It says: "Who knows only his own generation always remains a child". The most important channel of learning in live is our own history. As I get older I'm learning that more and more. This actually ties into what you need to be teaching those people down there. When Moroni came to Joseph Smith he told him that Elijah the prophet would come "he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to the fathers". (Mal. 4:6) The Lord does not what us to know only our own generation. 

Well Josh, I want you to know that I love the Gospel. I love the opportunities it gives us to serve and to learn and you are in the best place to realize that too.

We love you and are so proud of you and pray very hard each day for your success. 

Take care and we can't wait to hear from you.

Dad