American Powerchair Football Confederation APFC

Thursday, November 20, 2025

Sunday morning we got up, dressed for church and then headed promptly to Kira’s ward. It was their primary program and while primary programs are always special, this one was even more so because it was Pipers last primary program and so the last one for Kira’s family.

After church we swallowed a quick lunch and then headed to the Ability 360 gym for the opening cermony for the APFC America’s cup.

It was quite the show, and we felt as if we were in a mini-olympics opening cermony. There were six countries competing from both North and South America. The teams all entered from one side of the gymn, made their way around the gym and assembled opposite from us.

The Ability 360 facility is amazing. It is cool to see what they can do when they construct a building that from the ground up is made to accommodate handicapped people. I checked out the bathrooms, the showers and even the dressing rooms. The dressing rooms have a ledge with a water proof mattress on it where the athletes can be dressed.

Back to the opening ceremonies. Jayden carried the Canadian flag but Evan was asked to hold the back of the flag to keep it unfurled so that it would show better.

Once the teams were all assembled facing us, they then turned around and faced the presenters and they had slide shows, speaches and an amputee sang several songs. He was good.

Following the opening ceremonies, all the teams left the floor except for the two playing in the first game and the competition was underway.

Evans first game was with Uruguay at 5:00 Sunday. This was a team that they should have been able to beat, but the coaches seem to think that they are still coaching little league. I suppose this would be tough for them, because they have only coached in regular games which are all about inclusivity. In fact, the entire concept of power soccer is inclusivity. I am forever grateful that Evan has been able to play power soccer since he was seven years old when a player let him try out his power soccer chair. The picture above is Evan and Jayden on team Canada and here they are when they were seven.

While that is all true, and we should never loose track of what power soccer is all about, it seems to me that once you get to the level of competing for the world championship, you should be doing all that you can to win. These coaches still have the attitude that every player should get a chance to play. If they had put their five best players on the floor for the entire game I think they would have won. Instead, each of their seven players. Got a chance to play. To make matters worse, the coach pulled their two best players at the same time. In any case they lost their first game.

It was a round robin so they had a chance to play each of the six countries for a total of five games. Game two was against Brazil at noon. This game went much like game one and we lost this game as well.

Game three was Monday at 3:00 against Argentina. The top three teams will move on to the world championship next September and the undisputed best team in the Americas league is Team USA. They have the most money, they pay their coaches and they have the largest pool from which to pick their players. The second best team would be Argentina who also have paid coaches. No one expected us to win this game. These are the kind of games where you can put your second string on the floor. If you’re clearly going to win or clearly going to lose then give those guys a chance to play. We lost so now we were 0-3.

Lisa had to get back to work and I also had a deadline of sorts, so we headed home after game three. Game four was against the USA Tuesday morning at 9:00. It was no surprise when they lost that game. Our last chance for a win was Tuesday afternoon at 1:30 against Mexico. That was a close game and at the end of regular time it was 0-0. After double overtime it was still 0-0 so it went to a shoot out. I wasn’t there and I don’t really know the rules but I think each player gets a chance to take a penalty shot.

A penalty shot is pretty much a certain goal unless the shooter really messes up. He shoots from so close that if he can hit an empty spot he is pretty certain to get it in. After the penalty shots it was 3-2 for us. While I am admittedly biased, Evan is the best player on the team in any position which also makes him the best goalie on the team. He has been playing longer, has more experience and has played in more competitions than any other player they have. This meant that Evan was the goalie. While all his saves were amazing, one of his saves was truly spectacular.

Check out this link.

The goalie parks in the middle of the net and isn’t allowed to move until the shooter hits the ball. Normally they move the chair forward or backwards to block the ball, but this time, as soon as the shooter touched the ball he circled his chair around and smacked the ball away. Here is a picture but you really need to see the video. 

So that was the tournament, our 1-4 record really doesn’t represent how well we played. In any case, it was a great experience.

And Canada definitely had the biggest and best group of fans.

While the purpose of the trip was to watch Evan play, we did have our day with Bens family on Saturday and celebrated several belated birthdays with Kira’s family.

The sweater that Cameron has is a funny story. They were at our house one day and Cameron found this sweater of Lisa’s. He thought it made a wonderful cape and wore it the whole time he was there. He did not leave it behind willingly. Mom decided it would make a good birthday gift and he loves it.

----------trivia----------

The human mind isn't meant to be awake after midnight. It is thought that evolution has caused us to be suspicious, uneasy, restless and paranoid after midnight. That helped us to stay alive when we were hunted by nocturnal predators. 

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American Powerchair Football Confederation APFC

Tuesday, November 18, 2025

Friday when Lisa got home from work, we loaded up the van and headed to Arizona to watch Evan play in the APFC qualifying tournament to see which countries would be playing in the FIPFA world cup tournament in Argentina next year. It was an amazing weekend.

With Arizona now being an hour ahead of us, and our late start it was around midnight when we got to Bens, so we hugged and kissed our son and headed to bed.

We wanted to get a temple session in so we got up early to head to the Gilbert Temple. In the wee hours of the morning when I opened the bedroom door I was startled to see this cute little girl acting all shy standing right in front of the door. She looked unsure of what to do but when I knelt down and said come give me a hugged she was instantly in my arms. By the time we got out the door all the kids were up and giving us hugs. It is so fun to be greated like this.

We were back around 9:00 and of course the first thing I wanted was a tour of Bens yard. It is amazing what he has accomplished while working full time, raising three kids of his own and three additional kids that he has invited into his home. It wasn’t long ago that his back yard was a barren dirt patch and in a short time he has;

· leveled it,
· installed a sprinkler system,
· planted a lawn,
· planted trees and vines,
· built a beautiful garden bed,
· planted it with many flourishing plants,
· prepped the space for several more garden beds,
· built a first class chicken coop that matches his house,
· raised several chickens that keep him and several others in a constant supply of eggs,
· built a tortois house.

While he has accomplished a lot, he has many more projects ahead of him. I love following his progress.

Saturday was a day to play with grandkids. Kit decided that we needed to play with her new scooter. I wasn’t terribly excited about chasing her around on her scooter but then I saw a powered scooter sitting in the garage and decided that would make it a lot more fun. That girl travelled all around the neighborhood and it was a lot of fun. When Kit was tired of the scooter, the boys wanted to head to the park.

We played around on the playground equipment for a while and then a neighborhood friend showed up and they wanted me to join in a game of tag. That would have been fun but the rules kept changing and it was pretty hard to catch them all. Of course, I was the first one “it” (or as they called it, I was the “tagger”) and it was me and Kit against the three of them. It was some variation of frozen tag where if we tagged them they were frozen but then one of their team mates could free them.

The neighbor kids mother came and took him away so then it was the merry-go-round. They love that.

Kira came over for breakfast (Justin was at work) and then she left the kids with us while she took Evan to be classified. In these competitions each player is classfied according to their abilities. If you are severely dissabled, you are classfied as a 1, if you have more abilities you are a 2 and if you have pretty good mobility then you are a 3.

A team can only have 6 points on the floor at a time, so you want really good players who are 1’s. You can have 5 good players on the floor. You can have one 2 player but if you have two 2’s then you would have to play short handed. You wouldn’t do that unless those two players are really good. Evan was classfied as a 1.

Later in the day we somehow ended up dancing. Actually, Zanee,

Kit,

and Cameron ended up dancing.

We then headed to Scottsdale to watch a light show. The best part of the light show were some flames they have in a canal but the show started at 6:30. We got out of the house late so we missed that, but once we got there we learned that they repeat the show at 7:30 and then again at 8:30.

They had lots of cool things to see, so decided to walk around and check them out and then see what time it was. By the time we all got parked and met up it was already nearly seven so I figured it would work out well.

The whole show took place along both sides of a canal and they were quite fascinating. I don’t think we saw everything, but here are a few pictures of some of them.

One booth had clothing that lit up and changed colors if you passed polarizing lens’s over them.

There was a giant face hanging in the air and you could stand in front of a camera and your face would appear in the sky.

Here is Zanee and Kit making music on some fancy synthesizer. 

There were several others as well. By the time we made it back to where we started it was 7:30 so we hung out and waited for the show. It was quite amazing. We were able to be right up front and center.

By the time we got home we were all tired so we visited briefly, watched a TV show and went to bed.

--------------------trivia--------------------

Canada is the only country that has an island in a lake 

on an island in a lake on an island in a lake. 

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Missionary Journal - 11 June 1978 Sunday

11 June 1978 Sunday

Today has been great. In conference this morning everyone got quite a pleasant surpise. Pres Brim read an annoucement from President Spencer W. Kimball saying that the priesthood is for all worthy men regardless of race or skin colour. That will say that the negros can now receive the priesthood.

When he announced that, I was just overwhelmed by the Holy Ghost. That was a real conviction for me that it is from God. For the rest of the meeting I was in quite a daze. It was another step up in my testimoney of a living profet who speaks with God.

After the meeting we hurried home and went to our dinner appointment with that family from Hungary. The husband works from 5:00 – 10:00 so we saw him ride away on his brommer [as we we] walked down the sidewalk. It was a delicious meal & 2 of her other dughters came also to eat (married & with noisy kids) but no other men. Afterward I prepared a roast for the other two to cook during sacrament meeting.

Sacrament meeting was also alright but we didn’t have any investigaors (Mw. Eerdekens was to Conference)(That conference was Gent district).

Tonight we had our appointment with that family of ten kids. The sad part is that the father is not interested and wasn’t there & the daughter[s] with who we talked are crazy about us. The mother likes us too. Hugo was there also but his wife is in the hospital (one of the daughters). We talked to Mw DeLange, Margriet, Hilde, Anna, Angela, Johan, Hugo (married Lieve) & also a friend that they had there. Hilde is the best looking one and is 17 years old. We shared a GTL & got a return for a G.A. but things arent looking very positive. The girls still love us though.

The days have been a little cooler lately but still warm enough that we don’t need an overcoat.

A quick visit from Justin

Thursday, November 13, 2025

Evan is currently attending college on-line, but is living in Auburn, Alabama, so he can train with the Auburn University’s Power Soccer team. Griffin (Ally’s oldest child, is living with him as his trainer. It appears to be working out great for both of them.

While Evan is on the Auburn University’s power soccer team, he is also on Team Canada. The American Powerchair Football Confederation (APFC) qualifications begin on Sunday and fortunately for us they are taking place in Phoenix. The countries competing are Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, United States and Uruguay. The top three teams from these qualification rounds will then compete in the world competition in Argentina next September. The world group is called the Federation International of Powerchair Football Association (FIPFA).

Evan arrived home yesterday but the only wheel chair van is back in Auburn. They have bought a new van that Evan will be able to drive, but it isn’t finished yet and Evan still needs a few more hours of driving before he gets his license anyway. We still have the old van that Justin bought years ago so Justin flew out Monday night and drove the van home Tuesday.

Monday is our dance class, so Justin got here early enough to join us for our class. Not surprisingly, he is a natural. The way Scottish Country Dancing works is that there are a hundred or so formations and several of these formations can be put together to make a dance. This means that there are billions of potential dances. A dance typically has seven or eight formations and the hard part for me is remembering which formation comes next. Justin remembered all the formations after seeing them once. It was his first day so his steps were a bit funky but you know Justin and he gave it his best shot. He was amazing.

We get several visitors to the class and while our instructor recognizes and gives special attention to all of them, she has never had the class applaud them at the end of the class. She had us all applaud Justin. Because we are near the end of the session, Jean (our instructor) suggested to the last visitors that they come back in January when the class starts over again. On Monday at the end of the class she came up to Justin and told him that he is welcome in her class anytime. It was a fun evening.

Tuesday morning, we had a nice and relaxed breakfast and then we sent Justin on his way with a hug and a kiss. It was so much fun having him here.

--------------------trivia--------------------

The oldest Scottish country dance with a known tune and choreography is John Anderson my jo, found in a manuscript from 1704, though the style itself developed in the 1680s.

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Mission Journal - 10 June 1978 Zaterdag

10 June 1978 Zaterdag

We went through the Markt this morning but didn’t buy anything. It’s just fun to go see all the people. We know an awful lot of people so we see a lot of them there. We hit up a lot of people today but could only teach once. It was a call back from an Irishman. He can only speak Irish & French. Elder Reber had a lot of trouble speaking english in the Gospel Time Line. GTL.

We dropped by Mw Van Campenhout five minutes before visiting hours were over to pick up a letter to give to Zuser DeSitter. She [had] sent her a post card abut two days after she [Mw VanCampenhout] went in. Zuster VanCampenhout was so touched that she had it memorized. She was a little upset that we left so soon but we didn’t want to stay after hours.

A few weeks ago when we were at DeGraves we met a lady whose husband was in Alchoholic Anonymous. (Mr DeGrave is a converted alcholic) We had gotten a referal from DeGraves to go to their place so we went there today.

He was fishing and their daughter wasn’t [was] home so we talked to her for a few minutes and made an apppointment. It sounds quite positive for them. We had some friets & stofvlees today also. It gets expensive on these days when we try to keep our hours up but it sure is delicous.

We tracted of[f] the street where we live and boy it is great. Hardly anyone rejected us boy [but] they were all busy. Some of them can’t speak dutch though so that adds difficultys. The last house was answered by a young girl of 15. She invited us in but when her mother came she could’t speak dutch The daughter translated for us. So we talked for awhile & then they invited us in. We sat & talked some more then but didn’t because the father was home.

The mother is Yugoslave & the father Hungarian. She looks a lot like Nadia Komanchishe. Real pretty. The Mw. makes these little dolls & E Reber asked if he could buy one. She gave him one & said she would make another (the others were for other people ) but would[n’t] take money so Elder Reber slipped 500 francs under the table. When we finally left she happened to see the money and wouldn’t take it until E Reber said she could fix us dinner another time. She only took 200 francs then and said come back tomorrow (We hadn’t planned on that , we were going to make a date) At our appointment with Moniques we ended up watching T.V. again so we didn’t teach there. The show wasn’t all that good either.

Missionary Journal - 9 Juni 1978 Vrijdag

9 Juni 1978 Vrijdag

We had seven appointments today and could have taught them all if we would have been on the ball. At 10:00 oclock we talked to a man who has had the Elders before. His wife came in later & we gave a GTL [gospel time line]. They like us, but I don’t know how much interest they have in the church.

We then checked on some people but couldn’t teach until [after] our appointment with Mv Van Campenhout in the hospital. She is coming along great. We gave and “F” discussion to Mr Mornie today also. It talks about the apostacy in that discussion and that is exactly where his problem has always been. He thinks that the church has always been on earth. I think this will be the turning [point] in his investigation, if we can get him to accept the fact that the true church was taken from the earth.

Walter Exsteen was next on the list, his mother wasn’t home so we just talked to him. He really does want to learn about Christ I think but he sure will have to work hard. His Mother doesn’t [believe in] any kind of church faith & also probably has real bad moral problems .

On the way to his house talked to a bunch of kids in Kassei. That is a neat feeling when kids really like you. I’m also learning from Elder Reber how to handle them. Our next appointment was with that family of 10 kids. Right in front of their house some older teenagers stopped & talked to us. I guess they were friends of the DeLange family because some of their daughters plus the mother came out & talked to us also. They invited us in and we talked to three of the seven daughters plus a friend. The father wasn’t home and we also found out that two of the daughters we had already taught with the DeBakker family a month or so again [ago].

Mw DeBakker is thier sister, another daughter is married to Hugo & they were also at DeBakkers. Hugo came in while we were there. We also met a son & two other daughters in the time. Plus four cats. Those girls were real in love with us. They would probably get baptized if we just asked.

We talked with them so long we missed our next 2 appointments but one was with Monique & they don’t mind so that was alright.

Missionary Journal - 8 June 1978 Donderdag

8 June 1978 Donderdag

We finished tracting off Kassei for the first time through, this morning. We made a lot of good appointments (one with a familie of ten kids). The very last house (or second to the last) was the father of a girl who we had met at her finacee’s a week or so earlier. We saw those two twice later on that day.

Later tonight we taught Manique’s. We got him in this discussion and he is quite interested. In the middle of the discussion he had some problem with his heart & he couldn’t move. His wife got a glass of whisky real quick though & then he could move again.

It was real weird and kind of shocked me. We got back to teaching & then “I Love Lucy” came on so then had to quit right then. So we awatched “I Love Lucy”. It is sure hard to teach these people when there is somehting half good on T.V. Oh ya, we ate frites and stofvlees today. That sure is delicous food.

Missionary Journal - 7 June 1978 Wednesday

7 June 1978 Wednesday

This morning we had our last zone conference with Pres. Brim. It was real great also. I wished him good luck in our interview and he said that him & sister Brim love me.

Theme for the conference was “Trust in the Lord” & Elder Woodbury gave a talk on Charity that really touched me. In the testimoney I finally had the spirit with me so I could talk without being nervous. I told Pres. & Sis. Brim then that it is good to have parents here on a mission so you know there is someone to go to if you do have a problem.

After the conference we went and ate with Tierbrood’s in their new house. It lasted too long so we couldn’t teach but went to our appointments with Heyndels but they weren’t home. We took a book of Mormon to Daniel (who was sick) & Martin who are the two girls from yesterday evening.

We went to Maniques then and Starsky & Hutch came on so we got watching that and couldn’t teach. It was a good show but we got home quite late.

Something interesting that happened yesterday was when we went to that call back there were kids playing with some balls and we asked one to through [throw] us one so we got playing catch and other kids came until there was 4 people on our side and about 5 on the other side with 4 balls going back & forth. Almost everyone was looking out their windows at us. This went on for quite a while until someone kicked a ball out towards the street, it bounced off a parked car & a car on the highway hit the ball with its window & that ball went sailing for ¾ of a Cardston block (about ½ of this block). His window didn’t break or crack so it was alright but everyone decided to go home then, including us.

Missionary Journal - 6 June 1978 Tuesday

6 June 1978 Tuesday

Today was quite an interesting day. We visited Mw Van Campenhout in the hospital & we were able to teach a bit. She really wants to prepare to get baptized. She still has the temptations though to smoke. Also they still feed her coffie & she drinks it. We keep telling her to ask for hot water & she asks but they don’t give it to her.

She has a friened there who works there and comes & visits her once in a while He is a young man and he always smokes while he is there in her room. That is why she wants to, but he won’t give her any thank goodness. Later in the day we taught Mr Mornie the last part of an “E”. He still studys & prays but I don’t know how seriously.

We then went to Eerdekens. Mr Eedekens was home but he wanted to watch football (soccer) on TV. It’s the world series more or less. Walter also gave me a whole series of stamps. I’m not sure how much it is worth but at least 200 or 300 Francs. We started teaching, but then the older son came in with his wife to be. We talked with them then for the rest of the time.

Our appointments wih Jean-Pierre didn’t go through, so we hit up this one call back which we had from a while ago. We had heard from someone that the father had died, but a few days ago when we rang on the bell, the daughter said that her mom & dad weren’t home. Tonight we went there and the older daughter asked us in, but then we found that the two daughters were home alone she said her mom would be home real quick though so we waited.

She was wearing a night gown (she was sick) which was see through and she was always standing in the sunlight so we could see right through. And then the other daughter came in wearing a mini skirt so it was difficult keeping my thoughts where they should be.

The mother did come home quickly but she had friends so she couldn’t take [talk] to us. We found out then that the father is in the hospital and has been in serious condition. She said we could take [talk] to her daughters & went into the other room with her friend, so we finished our drinks & talked to some pretty girls for a while and went home.

Missionary Journal - 5 June 1978 Monday

5 June 1978 Monday

This morning we all four went to Brussel. We saw a fancy clock where statues come and dance every hour and another one hits a bell with a hammer. We were also in the centrum to buy some souveniers so we went & took another look at the Manneken Pis. They have a guard there now who keeps an eye on him twenty four hours a day because he was stolen not long ago. He said that the orginal has been in a museum since the 1930’s.

When we went in to Brussel we stopped and looked [at] a church where the king goes. The Kerk Von Laken. Right beside him is also Een onbekende soldaat or an unknown solder. That is where they dug a big hole and threw bodies of dead soldiers. They then put a big memorial on top. We also saw another church but I can’t think of the name of it. It was pretty though.

Also a fancy park and there I saw a young couple from Canada. London City. That was good. There were also four girls who couldn’t speak Flemish but tried to hustle us anyways. I think they were kind of annoyed when we wouldn’t ask them out. They could speak a real small bit of English.

We then headed for MacDonalds and on the way we saw an Older Couple who were from Saskatchewan. They have been to Waterton and know where our motels are. MacDonalds was also great. It is sure neat to have a Big Mac.

Tonight we only taught once & that was Walter Exsteen & his mother. We didn’t say anything about him being [gay].

Missionary Journal - 4 June 1978 Sunday

4 June 1978 Sunday

Today was another beautiful day. Also a Fast Sunday and the warm weather didn’t help my thirst any, but fasting is a great principle and can be a great help. We stayed in and worked on reports most of this morning and at 11:00 we had a district leaders seminar in Brussel with the ZL’s. Those meetings can be real great and a help in our work.

The meetings were also great, especially fast & testimoney meeting. The spirit was real strong, it is too bad we didn’t have any investigators there. I really love being built up by the spirit like that. We had a good roasted chicken cooked by Elder Tibbetts, but his dressing didn’t work so great.

Missionary Journal - 3 June 1978 Zaterdag

3 June 1978 Zaterdag

Today wasn’t quite as hot as it has been but it was definately warm. We also had a real hard time to teach today. Our one and only appointment left a note on their door saying:

“Mijn Heer Elder Reber & Elder Leavitt, Familie Ver Leysen kunnen niet thuis zijn wegens anvoorzien omstandigheden”

[My Lords Elder Reber & Elder Leavitt, the VerLeysen family are unable to be home due to unforeseen circumstances]

In other words they couldn’t be home. In one of our areas today they had a small fair (kermis) which was quite neat. There weren’t a lot of people, but everyone had their houses all decorated and flags hanging up. It looked quite sharp.

This morning as were were walking through the markt an ambulance came driving through all the people and we didn’t think very much about it, but when we got further, they walked by us carrying a young lady on a stretcher. She was quite unconcious and real white. We overheard people saying that she had fainted or somehtiung of the sort. I think she worked in one of the stands. Well after a lot of working, we finally decided to go see if we could teach Mr. Suelze anything (an old investigator that we had dropped). We talked a lot, this time mostly about profets, but I don’t think we taught him anything. He isn’t at all open for new ideas. He is trying to get us on the straight & narrow path I think.

Trunk or Treat

Monday, October 27, 2025

A while back we were in Arizona and Lisa and Kira were checking out some thrift stores. Lisa saw a dress that she figured would make the perfect Professor Trelawny costume for Halloween so that is what we did for Halloween this year. That plan was set, I was going to be Professor Dumbledor and Lisa was going to be Professor Trelawny.

The ward “trunk or treat” was Saturday night. The Bishop is not a big fan of Halloween and last year he suggested that we change it to a “Fall Festival” and get rid of the Halloween portion. That went over like a lead balloon.

While I am completely sympathetic with and supportive of the Bishop, it is odd that we go to church and celebrate witches, devils, skeletons, ghosts and vampires, I was also a bit dissappointed that I might not get to wear my Dumbledor outfit. I am supportive of the bishop, but I was glad that the “Fall Festival” morphed into the “Fall Festival and Trunk or Treat” night.

It was a very fun night and I sampled three different chili recipes. They were all very good and went perfectly with Peter Odenwalders home made root beer. I even found one of my  Hogwarts students there.

--------------------trivia--------------------

Across all locations—and regardless of access to artificial light—participants slept less and took longer to fall asleep in the nights leading up to a full moon. The researchers think this may reflect an ancient adaptation: When the moon was brightest, our ancestors likely stayed up later to hunt, socialize, or work by natural light.

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Mission Journal - 2 June 1978 Friday

2 June 1978 Friday

We sure did work hard to teach today. We haven’t done very good this week and also I guess I haven’t done so real great as leader.

Monday when we went to Brussel. We wanted to leave early so we said we would have our companionship inventory (where we make goals among other things) until that afternoon. Well, just like a lot of things that we postponse, it doesn’t get done. Maybe that is why we have had a hard time teaching. This morning we held one [companionship inventory] (better late than never).

We taught Mw. Monique today, also we visited Mw (Zuster) Van Campenhout. She told us that she wanted to try & get a testimoney of the gospel before Elder Reber went home. She really has a lot of work esp. since she is in a hospital. Zuster De Siddert has been really great to her & worote her a letter already. Tonight we had to teach (we are low on hours) but all our appointments fell through. CB’s [call backs] weren’t home but just when we had one hour left in which to teach, we got in on a CB. The people were real fiendly but don’t want to hear any more. They are Catholic & just interested to know who we were. The Lord did help us to teach though.

Mission Journal - 1 June 1978 Thursday

1 June 1978 Thursday

I’m starting to thing [think] we live in a desert here except that everything is real damp. It was hot again today. We could only teach once today. We had an apppointment with Mw Monique but she had a friend there and we couldn’t teach. Last Tues she showed us a note that she had gotton in their Post Box. I guess someone didn’t like the fact that she sees us, so they wrote her a note saying that she had to repent or else be damned. It wasn’t very nice.

Mr Blommaert had to take his car to the garage because of a flat tire so we couldn’t teach him. We did pick up a new familie today, no one was home at an appointment we had made with a lady for an G.A. [gospel timeline?] but we tried later and taught the man. He was quite interested so we made an appt. To hold a Family Home Evening. He has a broken leg plus torn ligaments, he says it will never be the same but he is going to work to get it as close as possible to that.

In the area where we are tracting we are sure making a lot of friends. Everyone sits out on thier step enjoying the sun so we talk to a lot of people, but as of yet, we haven’t taught a lot of them. I sure do have a hard time teaching on my week. Also, I don’t get very many letters anymore I guess because in the last while I haven’t written many. I never did get very many, but this week I’ve only gotten one from my mother. Last week also. Mothers are sure sweet.

Mission Journal - 31 May 1978 Wednesday

31 May 1978 Wednesday

We are sure having a hard time teaching this week. We started out good, but today we got skunked. We couldn’t teach anyone. We had three appointments and a good call back but no one was home. Some of our appointments were on one end of Vilvoorde & then one clear on the other side. Oh! Yesterday we visited Zuster Van Campenhout in the hospital.She is doing alright. She also has pretty nurses. Today was another real hot day.

Mission Journal - 30 May 1978 Tuesday

30 May 1978 Tuesday

Today we found a lot of success. This morning we tracted in Kassei. The weather is unbelievably warm for me. Last week I froze and this week I cook. I guess I complain too much. Someone said that it got to around 30°C today. I would guess it was about the same yesterday in Brussel.

We had four appointments, but the one with Heyndels didn’t go through. We taught Mw. Monique, Mr Mornie (our Priest) he reads in the B of M and prays about it. He is a real religious person. “Whoops” I goofed! Yesterday when I said we taught Walter; that was wrong, that appointment didn’t go through so what [I] said happened then, actually happened today. Also Elder Rebers bike broke today so we let a guy fix it while walked half of the day. That is much more of a problem when you live ¾ of a mile from where you work, also some of appointmens were that far apart. Or farther.

Mission Journal - 29 May 1978 Monday

29 May 1978 Monday

Boy was it hot today. We got everything done real quick this morning and then headed to Brussel. We saw a lot of things today. Brussel is a real beautiful city. We saw some parks, a place with a lot of statues, also a real pretty archway which was real big. I also went to “MacDConalds” and had a real milk shake and a big Mac. That was great, as far as I know it was even real but it has been a while since I had one so I don’t know for sure. This “MacDonalds” was just opened and is the only one in Belgium. It is also quite expensive.

Tonight we taught Walter but this time we also taught his mother. She sure doesn’t believe in much. Only what she can see and feel. She is real friendly though. Walter is a little more religous but he won’t admit it.

After them we went to Erdekens. That “Walter” was late getting home so we were late beginning but then Mr Erdekens came in also. He listened for awhile as we explained a bit about eternal marriage.

We left shortly after and hadn’t given a real discussion but we had shared important and interesting information. Walter works for a post office and is going to get me some stamps for a collection. We then tried some other CB’s [call backs] and people we knew & then went to an appointment which was with a single lady who we have seen. She works in Nopri which is the super market where we shop. We had a pretty good discussion but she isn’t very religious.

Mission Journal - 28 May 1978 Sunday

28 May 1978 Sunday

Well here is the first day in my new book. This morning we didn’t do much, just worked in books or whatever we needed to do. The weather was fantastic. We rode our bikes to church or rather Priesthood meeting and came back to meet Zuster VanCampenhout at the tram stop. Also I cooked a roast today. I put it in and then let it cook a bit this morning.

Today was a good meeting and I think she enjoyed it but one lady was quite nervous and had a hard time giving her talk. Afer the meeting we ate my delicous meal and then went to Zuster VanCampenhouts to give her a can of instant Pionier to take to the hospital with her. She also fed us some cake and Sprite.

My Mission Journals - Introduction

On my mission I kept my journals in two spiral bound notebooks. They weren’t the sturdiest of journals, but they worked out well. They sat on my bookshelf for decades and I never looked at them once, but years ago I pulled them out to look something up and I have no idea where the first book has gone. I have pulled the second book out from time to time, but I have never been able to find the first book. I decided that it is time to transcribe my second book before it falls apart. It is my hope that the first book will show up at some point, it has to be in this house somewhere.

If it doesn’t show up, I am just glad I have the second one, most of my first journal was my moaning about how home sick I was and how much I missed Maurine.

I will copy my journal as best I can and if I need to add any clarification [I will add that in square brackets].

My first journal covered my time in the LTM and my first city of Turnhout. This book picks up in Vilvoorde in the summer of 1978.

 Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Dad, Tell Me About the Time (81)

What do you want people to remember about you?

I don’t think I’m there just yet but it is my hope that people will think of me as a man who loves his God and who loves his fellow man and lived his life accordingly.

The last section of the book that Kira gave me has the following heading:

Use these pages to share other thoughts, stories or experiences that have come to mind and you want to remember.

I now have twelve years of journals. Some of them are brief with many missing dates and others are full. From these journals I have also extracted an autobiography. I will let these journals "share my thoughts, stories and experiences that I want to remember".

 

Now that I’m done with Kira’s book I’m going to have to revert to my boring life and my posts will be fewer and farther in between. 

Dad, Tell Me About the Time (80)

Monday, October 6, 2025

What do you want your spouse to remember when you are gone?

When I am gone I want Lisa to remember how much I love and adore her. She has made me the man I am today and without her my life would have been quite boring. She has given me six beautiful and good children who each have beautiful and good children of their own. She is at the heart of my every joy.

What was the happiest time of your life?

Today is the happiest time of my life. I look at my life today with a tremendous amount of joy. I love where I have ended up. I love where I am in my church, I love my relationship with my God. I love my children and it brings me joy that they are all successful both in their careers and with their families. I love my marriage and I have enjoyed a career that has brought me a lot of satisfaction. I have always been able to pay my bills and we have always been able to purchase anything that we really need.

While that is all true, I’m sure the question is asking about what perhaps my favorite period in my life was. I would have to say that was probably the time just before Kira left for college. My children were all at home where I could enjoy their presence every day. They were old enough that I could have a meaningful relationship with each of them and it was so much fun.

What was the saddest?

That would probably be the period in my life when each of my children left home. It was exhilerating to watch them leave and stand on their own. It was satisfying to watch them succeed at school and in their careers and to watch them become parents and start beautiful little families of their own but I was also sad to have them all so far away.

What family values do you hope your children will continue for generations in the future?

As Lisa and I raised our children we did our very best to be a part of their lives. We supported them in their chosen activites, (sports or music) and we did our best to be aware of their joys or sorrows. We had an intimate discussion with each of them almost daily and we were usually aware of their trials and joys. It is my hope that they are able to do the same with their own children.

Do you have a living trust or will?

We are working on that. It isn’t done yet but we have recorded what our wishes are.

Is your estate planning complete?

My estate consists of my house which has appreciated considerably. That makes my estate planning simple.

Where do you keep important documents and keepsakes?

My keepsakes are scattered around the house so they will be lost in the case of a fire but all my important documents are digitized and stored in the cloud. On my computer I have a dropbox folder and under that is a folder called family. That is where everything of any consquence is stored.

What unique heirlooms are cherished by your family? Where are they now?

We don’t have anything of any value but there are a few items that different kids cherish. What I am doing is taking pictures of each item that I think someone might value and then asking each kid to let me know just how much they like that item. Based on their response my will has an appendix where these items are listed along with who we want to have it. The list includes things like an original portrait of Lisa’s 2nd great grandparents and their family, Lisa’s great grandpa’s rifle that he had in WWI, my belt buckles, my paintings, a huge family portrait from when Kira was a senior in highschool and things like that.

These items are scattered throughout the house.

What do you wish most for your children?

My wish is that my kids will love their children as much as I love them.

What are you doing today to build a legacy that you want to leave behind?

I don’t really have a legacy. I’m not even sure I know what that means. I just want to be remembered as a man who loved his Lord and loved his family. I have done a lot of stupid things in my life, but I am trying hard to be a good man. I hope my loved ones are able to see that.

If you could share one message with your children and grandchildren that would remain in their hearts and minds forever, what would it be?

Your Heavenly Father loves you and He wants you to be happy. He communicates his love and will to you through the Holy Spirit and if you make the Holy Spirit your constant companion, then you will always have joy and peace. You will be able to always have this peace and joy even has you navigate through the most difficult trials, if you only let the Holy Spirit guide you.

I guess if I were to summarize this in one sentence it would be:

You can’t have a better friend than The Holy Spirit, get to know Him, listen to Him and do what he tells you to do.

Your Heavenly Father loves you and I love you. We will both always be there for you.

Dad, Tell Me About the Time (79)

 Friday, October 3, 2025

How does your faith help you in your day-to-day life?

My faith makes me who I am and it influences every moment of my life. While I have a long way to go, I continually try to be a kinder person, think before I speak and not react to what I may perceive as rude or offensive comments. I try to see things from other peoples perspective and to be respectful of their opinions. I want to be a peace maker. In short, I try to be a better person.

As I said, this is my goal. I haven’t reach it yet but that is where I want to be.

I never mentioned this scripture earlier, but it is one that I try to use to guide my life.

James 4: 2-5

2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.

3 Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.

4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.

5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

Did you notice that part where it says “ If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man…” I really try to bridle my tongue. That is my goal, but it is hard to do.

What do you feel is our purpose in life?

Nephi tells us that “man is that he might have joy”.

I have learned that the thing that can bring us the greatest joy in life is our relationships with other people and in particular our families.

I talk a lot about how I’d be quite happy just being a hermit, but in reality, when I think of the most exciting things I have seen and done in my life, when these things happen my first thought is how I want Lisa to see this. It is not what we are doing that brings us joy, it is who we are doing it with. That might be why I love Ragnars so much. I love running, but running with family and friends is so much more fun.

I think the purpose of life is to build relationships, and to learn how to get along with other people. Just think about it. In addition to the knowledge that we accumulate, our relationships are the only things we can take with us to the next life.

Anything special or unique about your beliefs or faith that you want to share or expand on?

I remember a business trip I was on where we were waiting for our flight in an airport lounge. Somehow, as it often did, the discussion came around to the church. One of the women with me asked me what Mormons believe. My mind went blank, and I didn’t know how to answer that question. Suddenly the thirteen articles of faith popped into my head. I didn’t have them all memorized, but I paraphrased where needed and shared them with those people present. The articles of faith are a perfect summary of our church.

The Articles of Faith

1    We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

2    We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.

3    We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

4    We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Bottom of Form

5    We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.

6    We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.

7    We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.

8    We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

9    We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

10  We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.

11  We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

12  We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

13  We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

 

Have you ever?

Fired a gun?                                 yes

Tried archery?                             Yes

Hunted game?                             Yes

Gone Fishing?                             Yes

Swam a river?                             Yes

Gone skiing or snowboarding?   Yes

Tried scuba diving?                     Yes

Gone sky diving?                        No but I really want to

Milked a cow?                             Yes

Attended summer camp?            Yes (as an adult leader)

Competed in competition?          Yes (does Ragnar count?)

Won a medal or ribbon?             Yes

Been on TV?                               No

Toured another country?             Yes

Lived abroad?                             Yes

Swam with dolphons?                 Yes

Went kayaking                            Yes

Eaten Frogs Legs?                       Yes

Had a secret admirer?                 I think so

Traveled by train?                       Yes

Owned a reptile?                         Yes

Slept under the stars?                  Yes

Been dumped?                             Yes

Dumped someone?                      Yes

Ice skated?                                  Yes

Had to get stitches?                     Yes

Been arrested?                             No

Gotten a ticket?                           Yes

Been on the radio?                      No

Fallen in love at first sight?        Yes

Received a present you hated?    No

Slept in a tent?                            Yes

Felt an earthquake?                     Yes

Ridden a motorcycle                   yes

Hitchhiked?                                 No

Visited a fortune teller?              No

Acted on stage?                           Yes

Won anything?                            Yes

Been stung by a bee?                   Yes

Made a YouTube video?             No

Seen a ghost?                              No

Seen a UFO?                               Maybe

Been to Disneyland?                   Yes

Had braces?                                 No

Sung Karaoke?                            Does Xbox count

Been in an ambulance?               No

Ridden in a helicopter?               No

Been in a firetruck?                    Yes

Gotten anything pierced?            Not on purpose

Had surgery?                               Yes

Give money to the homeless?     Yes

Cut your own hair?                     No

Swam in the ocean?                    Yes

Gone surfing?                              I tried

Eaten a bug?                                Yes