Letters to Craig and Paul

Dear Craig:

I am enclosing a letter I wrote to Paul Gibson this morning, so that I won’t have to repeat it here.  Your letter helped me when I was down (and it seems like this Guide Director stuff is as bad as being on a mission – ups – downs – downs – downs – ups, etc.).  I will never be the spiritual giant that Bro. Flake is, but I am going to try, now that I have over 18 months in the Program, to get my act together and look at this for the long haul.  I just can’t tell you how much work it is.  I finally decided that what I am actually doing, although I’ve never had the experience, is acting as a Mission President for the Program.  In addition to that I have to do all the paperwork.

Your “double your faith” idea is exactly what I needed to do when I came out of the temple a couple of weeks ago.  Double my faith and get to work.  This is the Lord’s Program and He wants it to succeed.

Only 20 months to go.  It seems like forever when I am missing you a lot, but when things are going well, we do that like falling off a log.

I printed your P.S. to me because I think the guys all over the world need to know that what you are feeling is exactly the same way we are all feeling.  It would be great to just sit and talk and share what we have experienced.  I do love you as perhaps Helaman loved his “sons” and I grow so much as you grow and share with me.  I hope that the GLs will suffice while we are on missions (I include myself) and when we are off, perhaps we can keep something going that will help.  I’d like to look back after 20 years and find that we did keep close in all we did, and with you Awesome guys, it could be a wonderful ride!!!

Remember, you are one of a kind.  There is no one like you and never will be another like you.  Hold on to David Porter’s friendship because he and I are going to hold on to everyone else.  Pray for me.

Enjoy the GUIDElines.  Lance Williams has some good advice.  So does reed.  I appreciated your approach to inviting investigators to baptism.

Remember, in order for me to put out the GLs, and to run the Program, I have to give up things that make my heart ache.  One thing is writing more often and more in depth.  Haven’t solved that problem yet.  When you feel discouraged, immediately stop and think of standing with Brent and I in the Celestial Room.  This too shall pass, and there is a forever we are going to love living in.

Write when you can, and God bless you, my son.

Love,  Bro. P.

August 11, 1990

Dear Elder Gibson:

(Paul to his friends!)  I laughed, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed and laughed at your first letter. Thanx!  Soooooooooo much!!!

You may not have thought it was so funny, but I laughed, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed and laughed!

The Lord thanks you and I thank you for you commitment to temple attendance.  You will be blessed.  I think I’ll begin an ongoing box in the GLs with those who have committed in writing.  I love you, Paul, for your faithfulness, and hope you’ll keep me as a friend for life.  I need strong friends to keep me on the right track.

The rumors get more concrete on the closing of the temple.  I expect an announcement soon that it will close for 4-6 months.  I think this presidency will want to do it before they are released next June, so when it closes for Christmas may be the time.  Who knows?  But I intend to have a plan in place when I hear it and begin behind the scenes work on it now.

I hope the GUIDElines this issue is all you’ve told your comp it is.  You’re one of the few who would realize after reading the first couple of pages how much work went on during Mary’s visit.  I am still recovering.  Of course, to get the 50 referrals we had to be involved almost every night.  You know how it is, you have to ask, “Did you remember to count their parents and brothers and sisters living in their home who will be there when the missionaries arrive?  Grandmas?  Grandpas?  Uncles?  Aunts?  Neighbors?”  Of course, they always say, “I didn’t know that we were supposed to do that, Brother Parker.”  Anyway, we did it and I am sure it is only because the Lord is extremely interested in the Program and what happens to it.  PLUS, work by everyone concerned.  Prayers.  Faith.  The whole thing.

Paul, we finally have a Presidency reminiscent of ones gone by.  You know how much wisdom is left after you giants go…not a lot.  Oh, Jason Haws and Randy have some but Jason is too interested in doing what he wants to do and not what the Directors (meaning me) want done.  He actually told Eric Richardson, “Oh, don’t worry about Bro. Parker, I can get him to do anything I want.”  Well…don’t be surprised if he moves off the Roster next time you see one!

Anyway, BB had Vega call Keith and then Keith called the Zone Leaders.  What a fiasco.  He got it all worked out before the SNTM, but it wasn’t pretty.  Then, BB wanted to just let them go do their thing, and they did for awhile.  Then, as I said in the GUIDElines, I went to the temple to get confirmation that I should quit, remembering your words, “Wait until I am gone.”  Well, I was soooooo exhausted I slept through the first ¾ of the session and then felt a little rested and began to think about options.  The definite impression that I should do something more with the Ammonites kept coming to mind.  In fact, on my earlier wish to quit I kept getting a stupor of thought, Literally!!!

So, I decided to go for broke and invited Trevor, Tim Penrod, Curtis Nielson, Evan Vance, and Eric Richardson to a special meeting at my house.  I explained that BB had been really weird lately but that I had been impressed that if we worked together we could effect a turnaround in the Program.  So we got together that fateful Tuesday, watched about five minutes of the movie, “Dead Poet’s Society,” and I gave them a sheet with the Carpe Diem thing on it that I reprinted in the GLs this month.  Then we just talked.  Les was there and said I talked more than them, but I had more to say.

First, I said that I had, in desperation, gone by and had a long talk with Kaleen Knight and she told me some things that I had feared.  She said that several of them had gotten together to discuss the Program now that they were back from their missions and had been removed from it for awhile.  They were all real concerned that BB could lead the Guides in a direction away from the Church.  Well, I believe he has in a lot of areas, and it was during my talk with Kaleen that she made me promise to never quit as long as BB was still involved.

Since I couldn’t quit, not that I really wanted to, but you know how hard it is to get everything done with BB running wild like a bull. . .I decided to shape it the way I thought it should be shaped.

So, I got the movers and shakers in the Program, three members of the Presidency I knew I could trust, and two that will be around for a year or so, and knew I could trust, and we began to structure the play.

First, we decided that they had some of the same fears as Kaleen and her group had.  They had all felt really taken back by some of the things they saw in the Program from BB.  Our first decision was that we could make changes if we planned well.  The Presidency meeting was moved to Sunday morning again.  That gives us a chance to meet uninterrupted for as long as we need to when BB goes off to his Block meetings at 7:45 or so.  We resurrected the Sunday Night DL Meeting at 6:15 p.m.  At that time, I, me, myself, will handle the instruction to the DLs.  I decided that if I can control 5/6 of the Presidency, then I should point some effort to the DLs.  They are really the point of where the Program leadership meets the troops.

We restructured the SNTM so that we start in the Cultural Hall with the chairs in a circle or something, split only the new Ammonites off for a few minutes, so that I can be there for most of the training and stuff that Vega and BB do.  I didn’t realize how much time he had alone with them over the past year when I was away with the Ammonites.  I want to watch him carefully.

So, at that fateful Tuesday Night Meeting I decided to step into Don’s shoes and begin running things as best I could with the concerted help of a few of the Presidency from behind the scenes.  Everything that we had decided needed to be done we have accomplished and then some!  Curtis took SNTM and Training Specialist, Tim took DLS and Trevor took the Presidency.  He single handedly convinced BB that we should go to a Sunday morning meeting and that he would prefer doing that rather than giving up any working time on either of his nights.

I also called Evan Vance as my personal Assistant to the Directors and have begun to train him in doing what I do.  It just dawned on me that if I am ever going to get out of this thing sometime in the future and feel good about it that I should train someone to do what I do.  Flake had Kaleen to do most of his “grunt work” which gave him more time with the Guides.

I also asked Eric Richardson to work with the Ammonites.  He and Evan are in sooolllliiiid now, since hey have seen some of the inner workings and complexity of the Program.  It is complex.

Curtis Nielsen and I were sitting discussing what is going to happen with the DLs we need to change.  Jason goes as soon as I can get him out.  Don’t get me wrong, I think he is terrific, but he thinks he is in control, and I can’t have that.  He even gave a Devotional telling everyone how great it was not to get referrals!  Pres. Christiansen, not knowing what is really happening in the Program, even agreed.  Oh, yes, we needn’t be depressed if we don’t get referrals night after night like Barrett does.  But, on the other hand, if Barrett is getting referrals night after night after night…maybe it would do us some good to look at what Barrett is doing and see if we could copy some of that.  So, that evening, we went about the rest of the night and were gathered for the closing minute and all of a sudden Leslie (mine) and Eric Richardson burst into the room with two referrals!  Well, it was dramatic evidence that getting referrals IS A NICEWAY TO END THE EVENING! 

Anyway, Curtis and I were discussing the Roster (he is doing the same thing Jeff Richardson did in Brent’s Presidency, running it) (which shocked the bejeebers out of me…who woulda thunk Curtis would wake up before his mission…except BB, who kept saying, he’ll come around…and he has…yabba dabba doo!) and I asked him who he had brought to the Program.  He said let’s look and see…well, there’s Trent Allen.  “Hold it,” I said.  David Porter brought Trent.  Oh yeah, but I helped, he retorted.

His eyes kept getting bigger and his grin broader until we had gone through the whole Roster, and he u n d e r s t o o d recruiting. Everyone has to replace himself or herself several times over or the Program will always be in trouble.

So, he is real interested in leadership.  We are down to using Brian Buell, who is turning out Awesome, Jason Bagley, don’t laugh, they are what we have!!!

Many are called, but I have chosen Eric and Evan as future leaders and I am going to give them the whole shot and see if what I do behind the scenes really can make a difference.  I have them for a year or so and when you are just over the hump I’ll report what we’ve done.

Robin Roberts wants to just be a Nephite and sail off into the sunset.  I’m going to let him.  I wanted him to Chair the committee when we go to the Temple Tri-Stake Fireside that last Sunday of September, but he said couldn’t I just Co-Chair with Eric Richardson?  I had already told Eric behind the scenes that he was the real leader there and he said, “Okay, Bro. Parker.”

If you hadn’t been so involved in the Program, most of what I have written above would sound different in a Church setting.  It would be so much easier just to have direct, involved Priesthood leadership, but until we do….

The boys are off on THE GUIDE CAMPING TRIP!  Jason organized it.  He is good for something.  I structured the play behind the scenes with instructions to Tim and Curtis and Randy on what I wanted to see happen.  You see, I cleared the way for everyone to go.  They said, “Brother Parker what about my shift, I can’t get a substitute!”  I said, “Ferget it and begone with you.”  I’ll handle the repercussions because I want them to have that experience.  I think it will be grrrrr8! for the Program.

Well, I have 35 more letters to write to go with the GLs this month.  Shad sent a bunch of pictures home to be developed.  Do you have any that I could add to my collection?

Write when you can.  Remember, you’re in my prayers.  You may just be the best prepared all around Guide we’ve ever sent out.  Vamos Baptizar!!! As the Duffer would say.

Your eternal brother,

P.S.  Jarvis is coming to speak at the SNTM next week!  I plan a parents’ night so his parents will have an excuse to come!