8
- Fireside book of Mormon
9
- Primary party (Thanksgiving one?)
17
- Dr. Godfrey (I am pregnant with
Landon)
18
- Stake meeting
23
- Take Vicki Rose supper (She had Michael)
(Approximately
end of October, first of November) - Letter from Linda
Dear
Rog, Gwen, and kids, How is everyone doing?
How is the old sick-0 doing now?
Rog, did you get your teeth all done now? You have gone through a complete overhaul
haven't you? Anyway, I hope you are
doing well. Please let us know, when
your next surgery is. I guess Gwen is
doing about the same as me. Just work,
work, work, every day. Well, once in a
while I manage a day to be sick. It was
great talking to everyone on the phone.
The kids are so cute. Sounds like
they both like school. It's when they
get older that they're a pain in the butt. Bruce's mom will be here the 19th
of November, and I'm sure that will keep us all busy. She is staying until February. The Child's leave the 7th of November. We will sure miss them. But I think 9 months will pass pretty fast. I just hope we can get to Korea soon. Bruce still has 12 hours to pay back, then
when he can add some time up, we'll go if we have some money. Well, kiss each other for me. Take care of your new knee. Love and Miss you, Love, Linda
November
9, 1987 - Letter from Mark
Dear
Roger, Gwen, and Family, How are you
all? I'm sorry it's taken so long to
write. I don't have as much time on
P-day here as I did at the MTC. I'm a
month late. I appreciate your thoughts and prayers. Thanks for your letter,
kids. I miss you both, I'm glad you have
boyfriends and girlfriends. Here is
Dickson Cho'ro' in Katakuna and Kanji (Mark, then wrote Japanese characters) Pretty neat, huh? You two will be all grown up by the time we
see each other again. So, you liked
"Head, shoulders, knees and toes?
Here
are the words so you can teach your classes if you want.
Head:
Atama Shoulders: Kata Knees:
Hizu Toes: Ashi, hizu, ashi, hizu, ashi
Atama,
Kata, Hizu,Ashi
Eyes:
Me Ears:
Mimi Mouth: Kuchi and Nose: Hana
Keep
working hard in school you two, and you'll get smart like your parents. Then Zac, you'll probably go to Russia on
your mission. Roger, your quite the
worker. Glad to hear you are back in the
swing of thing. You were pretty bored I
guess. Those new "choppers" in
your mouth looked great - I'm serious. I
heard St. Louis got thumped. That's too
bad. Didn't hear until yesterday. No sports news at all. Good luck on Dec 16th (for the next operation) Gwen, you're a busy one too. Thank you for taking the time to write
me. I'll bet time is really flying for
you guys too. Go ahead and send your
testimonies, that would be great.
"Matsumoto" dropped us,
but we've picked up another guy who is cooler.
"Midori kawa" - that means,
Green river. He is scheduled for
baptism the end of this month. Can't
wait, hope he hangs in there. It's neat
to be in Japan. I'm happy I came. Sometimes I can't believe that I'm here. The language is coming, slowly, but
surely. Keep up the prayers for me. The weather is turning off colder. They say it snows in December. I'll bet it's getting cold in Utah. Your Halloween was fun it sounds like. Wish I could have seen you kids. Well, write soon, ask the questions you want
to hear. Forgive me if you don't get one
back soon, but, be patient, it'll come.
I'll see ya in 2 years. Looking
forward to your next letter. Love, Elder
Mark Lee Dickson P.S. What do you think
about Shiula going bankrupt? I told you
so. Tell me the hot rumors. What is happening.
(Approximately
November 1987) - Letter from Terri
Dear
Gwen and all, Hello, how have you all been?
We are doing just great. So it
sounds like you are all excited to go to the temple. I am happy for you. That is so neat to know you will all be
together forever and Ambure can be with you too. Have you heard from my parents lately? I guess that my mother is getting VERY antsy
to come home. The way she talks, she has
been depressed. I think with the Child's
leaving Okinawa, they are wanting to leave now.
I worry, even though the only kind of sick they are is home-sick. So Roger is back to work? How is his knee doing? Does it hurt him to walk on it? I hope he is feeling better. Well, I guess I will let you go for now. Give Roger and the kiss a love. We love ya lots, Terri and Pat
November
8, 1987
Boy
another gap, and allot has happened. Rog
had his knee operation September 16, 1987.
Things didn't go too well. It was
really bad in his knee, so all they did was 5 arthroscopes and he goes back in
on December 16, 1987 for the ligament replacement. He was on crutches for about 6 weeks until
October 23, 1987.
(I never did mention how Roger came to need a knee operation. Last March, he went skiing, and fell and bent his knee backwards (opposite from the way it is supposed to bend) Instead of stopping right then, he went back up the lift to come down again, to see if it would loosen up. It got much worse, and he ended up at McKay-Dee Emergency room. I was out visiting teaching when I got a call from LuAnn. She and Ben took me down, and we waited for x-rays to see if anything was broken. It wasn't and I brought Rog home. A few days later we went to Dr. Gabbert in Ogden, and he said that it was still too swollen for him to tell what was wrong. The knee eventually started feeling somewhat better, and Rog was able to get around on it. But there was definitely something wrong with it. As we started getting wood and stuff in the summer, it got worse and worse. It kept giving out on him, and he was in allot of pain. That is when we made the appointment with Lonnie Paulos. The ligament, when it was finally replaced in December (next month in this journal), was a goretex (synthetic) ligament. It lasted for about 3 years, and then in (I think) 1990 or 1991 he had to have it replaced again. This time we chose a donor ligament (from a dead person) We had to sign all these AIDS waivers. It was pretty scary, and that is why we went with the goretex in the first place, because we were worried he could contract the aids virus. They assured us that the chance was very very minuscule. This ligament has worked great so far (1996), and Dr. Paulos did say that Rog would probably have an artificial knee by the time he was 60 years old. *He ended up with a knee replacement in 2008 when he was 50)
On September 28th, Rog had all the rest of his teeth pulled and he now has dentures top and bottom. They look great! Zac had a nice birthday too. We gave him a construction set, and he got a jacket and pj's from the Grandma's and about $24.00 in money. He had a great birthday party with about 18 boys. What an experience. The party theme was an Indian pow-wow. I went to the tabernacle on temple square to a woman's conference that mom and LuAnn sang at. It was great! Also, a Stake women's conference with the North Stake was good too. October went by fast and it got tight with our money.(This was because Rog was off work because of his knee. I was able to get on WIC again because I was pregnant. This helped with our groceries a little bit. We were also able to get some HEAT assistance to help cut our electric bill. ) I don't know what we'll do when Rog is off in January and February. (Because of the 2nd operation) The kids are doing well in school. Primary is going great. We are having a Primary Activity (Thanksgiving theme) tomorrow. Hope everything goes great!
GUESS WHAT!! Our family is going to be sealed in the Ogden Temple on December 12, 1987. We are really happy and excited. It is FINALLY TIME. WE ARE READY. All of us. Rog and I together. It will be okay, and everything will work out. Heavenly Father has helped us allot!! I have hoped and prayed that we will feel Ambure's presence. These last few years, I haven't thought of her much, because it hurt so, because I thought I wouldn't ever have her again. I can't believe this is finally happening. I wish Mark could have been there, but he's doing great in Japan. He left October 12, 1987, ( from the MTC) and we've gotten about 4 letters. He's going to be a great missionary. I'm so proud. I hope Zac goes on a mission. I hope me and Rog can raise our kids in righteousness. GUESS WHAT ELSE!! We're going to have a new baby too! We are excited, me most of all. About July 11, 1988, is the due date. It's time, and we are ready. Our whole lives are changing, or I should say, HAVE CHANGED. I pray to be a worthy daughter of God always.
(I never did mention how Roger came to need a knee operation. Last March, he went skiing, and fell and bent his knee backwards (opposite from the way it is supposed to bend) Instead of stopping right then, he went back up the lift to come down again, to see if it would loosen up. It got much worse, and he ended up at McKay-Dee Emergency room. I was out visiting teaching when I got a call from LuAnn. She and Ben took me down, and we waited for x-rays to see if anything was broken. It wasn't and I brought Rog home. A few days later we went to Dr. Gabbert in Ogden, and he said that it was still too swollen for him to tell what was wrong. The knee eventually started feeling somewhat better, and Rog was able to get around on it. But there was definitely something wrong with it. As we started getting wood and stuff in the summer, it got worse and worse. It kept giving out on him, and he was in allot of pain. That is when we made the appointment with Lonnie Paulos. The ligament, when it was finally replaced in December (next month in this journal), was a goretex (synthetic) ligament. It lasted for about 3 years, and then in (I think) 1990 or 1991 he had to have it replaced again. This time we chose a donor ligament (from a dead person) We had to sign all these AIDS waivers. It was pretty scary, and that is why we went with the goretex in the first place, because we were worried he could contract the aids virus. They assured us that the chance was very very minuscule. This ligament has worked great so far (1996), and Dr. Paulos did say that Rog would probably have an artificial knee by the time he was 60 years old. *He ended up with a knee replacement in 2008 when he was 50)
On September 28th, Rog had all the rest of his teeth pulled and he now has dentures top and bottom. They look great! Zac had a nice birthday too. We gave him a construction set, and he got a jacket and pj's from the Grandma's and about $24.00 in money. He had a great birthday party with about 18 boys. What an experience. The party theme was an Indian pow-wow. I went to the tabernacle on temple square to a woman's conference that mom and LuAnn sang at. It was great! Also, a Stake women's conference with the North Stake was good too. October went by fast and it got tight with our money.(This was because Rog was off work because of his knee. I was able to get on WIC again because I was pregnant. This helped with our groceries a little bit. We were also able to get some HEAT assistance to help cut our electric bill. ) I don't know what we'll do when Rog is off in January and February. (Because of the 2nd operation) The kids are doing well in school. Primary is going great. We are having a Primary Activity (Thanksgiving theme) tomorrow. Hope everything goes great!
GUESS WHAT!! Our family is going to be sealed in the Ogden Temple on December 12, 1987. We are really happy and excited. It is FINALLY TIME. WE ARE READY. All of us. Rog and I together. It will be okay, and everything will work out. Heavenly Father has helped us allot!! I have hoped and prayed that we will feel Ambure's presence. These last few years, I haven't thought of her much, because it hurt so, because I thought I wouldn't ever have her again. I can't believe this is finally happening. I wish Mark could have been there, but he's doing great in Japan. He left October 12, 1987, ( from the MTC) and we've gotten about 4 letters. He's going to be a great missionary. I'm so proud. I hope Zac goes on a mission. I hope me and Rog can raise our kids in righteousness. GUESS WHAT ELSE!! We're going to have a new baby too! We are excited, me most of all. About July 11, 1988, is the due date. It's time, and we are ready. Our whole lives are changing, or I should say, HAVE CHANGED. I pray to be a worthy daughter of God always.
November
16, 1987 - Letter from Mark
Dearest
Gwen and Roger and Mandy and Zac, Well, I don't know quite what to
say. I'm so happy, you wouldn't know how
happy!! I was expecting the worst,
(because your letter said to sit down on the back) but, I received the best
news I've ever received!! When I read
through, the tears came to my eyes and I realized how very special your family
is to me and how wonderful it will be to all live forever together. My testimony is growing so much stronger, and
I know that this is actually so. Someday
we will make it if we are faithful and have received the proper ordinances to
qualify us for exaltation. Well, you now
have fulfilled all of the ordinances and it is up to yourselves now! This is all I've been thinking about for the
last few days. I regret that I can't be
there on the 12th, but I know what I'll be thinking that particular day. I
have so much to be thankful for, it seems like the Lord keeps giving me
blessings. This is the biggest I've
gotten in awhile. I'm proud of you all
and look forward to hearing and SEEING how everything went. Everything here is fine. We have several investigators, the list is
growing. Here are a few of my
favorites: Ito, Midori kaua, Omata. I like Ito the best. Weather is getting a little colder, kind of
windy. I just go back from Loiwa - about
an 1 hour ride by train. We heard from
Elder Kamatsu, he is a General Authority, was very good. My language is coming along, though it's
tough to tell. I'll just keep studying,
if I do that and try I'll get it.
Sometimes I get discouraged, but I'm going to endure and make
it. I didn't get transferred, probably
next month, I don't know. The work is
difficult, sometimes things don't go as I like it and I wish things were a
little different, but I'm patient in afflictions. My bike completely broke and we put a new one
together yesterday. It's fast!!! Ha ha
ha, Thanks for the postcard Mandy!! I
miss you also. Zac, better watch out for
those cute little girls. You're so good
looking they probably all attack you.
You two remember how important and special the temple is. Because you are lucky enough to go and are
doing what's right you have to be even better now, more than ever. Well, I'm out of space. I love you all, and can't really express my
true feelings in words. I wish I were
there, but that's not the important thing.
Take care, write and send pictures.
Love Elder Dickson
November
21, 1987
We,
(me and Zac) are going to meet Erika and Mandy down at Temple Square for a fun
day. Rog is to a trap shoot. We are also going shopping after.
