Interview with Fern (McArthur) Hafen

Fern (McArthur) Hafen was interviewed November 25, 1958 by Fielding H. Harris, a representative of the Voice of Remembrance Foundation. She related her personal history of living in Ivins, Washington County, Utah.

FH:Would you state your full name, please?

FMH: Fern (McArthur) Hafen.

FH:What is your birth date?

FMH:October 7, 1912.

FH:Where were you born?

FMH:I was born in St. George, Utah [on] October 7, 1912.

FH:[What is] your father's name?

FMH:Moroni McArthur.

FH:[And] your mother's maiden name?

FMH:Emma Jarvis (Cottam) McArthur.

FH:Alright. [Would] you tell a little bit about some of your early childhood 00:01:00memories? Something that you can remember?

FMH:When I was just small mother said she could put me down in the middle of the floor and that was where I would stay. One day she was working and felt something tugging at her apron and turned around and it was me. I had walked clear across the floor. I was nine months old at the time and [have] been going ever since. [Laughter]

FH:Started out early? Is there anything else in that early part [of your life] that you could tell about?

FMH:I might tell about the day mother was making a quilt. I don't know how old I was but I wasn't very old. She had just finished the quilt and put it on the floor and [was] busy doing other things. [She] said I was so quiet [she] thought 00:02:00she better come in and see what I was doing. I was clipping off the last of the strings that she had just [tied]. She said, "Fern, what on earth are you doing." I said, "I'm just helping you make your quilt."

FH:[Laughter] You fixed it up good, didn't you? Can you tell about some of your school experiences? How much schooling [did] you have? Maybe [you can tell something] about your teachers.

FMH:I went through twelve years of schooling [and] graduated from Dixie High School [in St. George]. I started the first grade [because] they didn't have kindergarten in those days. Mrs. McAllister was my first grade teacher. She couldn't hear. She lived in two upstairs rooms [at our house]. She was a [member of the] Seventh-Day Adventist [church]. She used to come home and tell mother that I didn't take too much interest in school. I liked to watch the birds out the window. In the second grade Marjorie Brown [was] my teacher. She later 00:03:00married my uncle, Clarence Cottam. I really liked her.

FH: She was a good teacher?

FMH:She was a good teacher. She took an interest in school and really made it interesting. In the third grade I had [Elizabeth] "Bessie" (McArthur) Gardner. She was my cousin. I really liked Bessie. In the fourth grade we started to do a little more writing. [The teacher] noticed [that] I would write across the paper 00:04:00from the right to the left, instead of from the left to the right. [The teacher would] have to hold it up before a looking glass to read it. Josephine Savage was my teacher in the fourth grade. She would stand by my desk every time there was anything to write. I was left handed and every time I put the pencil in my left hand she would change it to the right and stay right there until I wrote [the lesson]. I think this kind of upset my equilibrium.

FH:She made you write from the left to the right again?

FMH:Yes, she made me write from the left to the right. In the fifth grade I had to stay back because I ─

FH:Slowed down?

FMH:─ slowed down. Mrs. Brink was my teacher in the first year of the fifth [grade]. The second year in the fifth grade, Mrs. [Mishie] Seegmiller was my teacher. In the sixth grade, I had Harold [H.] Snow. He was a real good teacher, too. In the seventh grade, I had Vernon Worthen. In the eighth grade [my teacher was] Jed Fawcett. [All] through high school we had [different] teachers for every subject. I quite liked school.

FH:Were you active in some of the activities of school life?

FMH:No, I didn't take any lead. I was more one of the followers all during school.

FH:But you still had a lot of fun in school? Is that it?

FMH:Yes, we had fun in school.

FH:You [received] a diploma from high school?

FMH:Yes, I received my diploma.

FH:Tell about some of your early experiences in life, adventure type experiences or anything that you did with your family or your father.

FMH:When we were small [children] we used to go to the field, as I remember, with dad. The whole family would go on the wagon. We spent the day. Mama would take her mending and darning which she would do by hand. [We] would go down 00:07:00there and play and help her where we could. On Sunday, dad would just take some of the older [children] to the field to help him. He used to say, "One girl is a girl, two girls is a half a girl, and three girls isn't any girl at all!" [He said this] because we would hike down to the creek to wade if there was more than one of us. If there was just one of us we would [stay] with him and help.

FH:I've heard this applied to boys but that is the first I've heard it applied to girls. [Laughter]

FMH:Dad's older [children] were girls.

FH:I see. During this time you had something happen. Your mother told you to do something and it turned out kind of amusing. What was that?

FMH:Maybe that was when I chased a skunk.

FH:Let's hear about that.

FMH:One day while we were down [in] the field, mama was sitting there mending and dad was mowing the hay. This little animal came out and I said, "There is my black and white kitten." Mama said, "No, it isn't!" By that time I had taken off chasing it. I chased it clear down to the creek and mama got quite excited. She went and told dad that I was chasing a skunk. Dad said, "Well, let her go. She won't catch it." I didn't catch it. [Laughter]

FH:Did you have some bad results?

FMH:No.

FH:He [ran] away from you?

FMH:He [ran] away from me.

FH:Were you ever lucky! [Laughter]

FMH:[Laughter]

FH:Tell about your church activities during [the] years that you were growing up. Were you active in The Church [of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]?

FMH:Yes, mama always took us to church. We always went, as a family, to Sunday school and church. We always attended Primary. First, [there] was just the East and West Wards in St. George. [Later] there were three wards.

FH:Did you have religion classes in your school?

FMH:Yes, we had theology class. Joseph [Kelly] Nicholes taught [my] theology class. I think it was each Tuesday.

FH:How many years did [you attend]? [Do] you remember if it was two or three years or just one [year]?

FMH:I imagine it was two or three [years] during high school.

FH:You were active in all the church organizations, MIA [Mutual Improvement Association], Sunday school, and Primary?

FMH:Yes.

FH:I would like you to tell me some of the special things that you remember about your father. What would you like to recall about him?

FMH:Dad was always a hard worker. He farmed most of his early life. He bailed hay. He used to have seven or eight cows that he would milk. My brother [Rex Cottam McArthur] and I would milk the cows.

FH:You were a pretty good milker?

FMH:Yes. I remember once when we were milking the cows that my brother had a little bantam hen. It was a pretty little white bantam hen and I wanted him to give it to me but he wouldn't. Finally, he told me if I would milk the equivalent of forty-five cows I could have the bantam hen. So, I did [and] I owned it for one day and it died.

FH:It died? After all that you [were] really tricked on that, [weren't] you? [Laughter]

FMH:[Laughter]

FH:Are there other things about your father that you ought to mention?

FMH:My dad was really good to all of us. He always furnished a good living for us. It wasn't expensive but it was a good living. If he went to town he would bring us back a little sack of candy. If mama went to town it was always a head of lettuce or a stalk of celery [that she brought back].

FH:Tell about your mother. What do you remember about her? [What] would you like to tell about her?

FMH:I can remember when we were small [children] she would always tuck us in bed and help us say our prayers. She would sing to us until we went to sleep. She 00:13:00was real good to us. She was a hard worker, too. Dad was gone a lot of the time when we were small. She was always the one that stayed right there with us and took care of us.

FH:You said [your dad] was gone a lot of the time. Does this mean he had to go away to work someplace?

FMH:Yes, in the early years, he hauled freight from Modena [Iron County, Utah] to St. George.

FH:What do you remember about your mother as far as religious activities are concerned?

FMH:Mama always [worked in the] church.

FH:Was she real active?

FMH:Yes, she was real active. [She always went to church.] Mother always had one job or another in the ward. She taught theology lessons for years and was 00:14:00president of the Relief Society for seven or eight years.

FH:How many children did your mother have?

FMH:Mother had ten children. She [received] a blessing before the oldest one was born and [was] told [that] it would only be just a short time before she [would] have to [return] him to the Lord. She felt bad about it at first. Then everybody 00:15:00told her that it didn't mean that he would die, [it] just meant that they would take him to Fast Sunday and have him named. When he was born, he weighed twelve pounds and was just the picture of health.

FH:He was half grown when he was born!

FMH:Yes, he was a big baby. She lived [in] Grandma [Emmaline (Jarvis)] Cottam's home at the time. [The home was] where the new courthouse in St. George is now. She lived on the west side of the building. She used to go to grandma's house on the east side and visit with grandmother. That was where she was one day [when] one of the neighbor ladies came in and her baby coughed a little bit. She said, "Do you think this baby has whooping cough? Some [people] think he [does] and some [people] think he [doesn't]." Mother got up and took her baby out. But he [came down with] pneumonia and whooping cough together. When he was seventeen 00:16:00weeks old he died.

FH:[The] blessing she received was true then, wasn't it?

FMH:The blessing came true.

FH:What was his name?

FMH:Willard. My oldest sister's name is Nellie (McArthur) Gubler. She married Emil Gubler [and] lives in Santa Clara [Washington County, Utah]. She has twelve children. She is real ambitious and does lots in church and civic [activities]. She is [very] talented.

FH:With those twelve children, she is still real active in church and civic affairs?

FMH:Yes. She is real active [and] sent nearly all of her boys on [church] missions.

FH:That is real fine.

FMH:[My sister] Florence married Glen Leavitt. She has eight children, I think.

FH:Where do they live?

FMH:They [spend] time in St. George and Veyo [Washington County, Utah]. She works at [McArthur Jewelers] [owned by our] brother Thomas. She is active in 00:18:00church too. I was the next one. Rex [is] next to me. He lives in Glendale and married Ella Brinkerhoff. They have four girls.

FH:Is this Glendale, Nevada?

FMH:Glendale [Kane County], Utah.

FH:Oh, yes, Glendale, Utah.

FMH:He has worked in the lumber mill, not in the mill, but out cutting down trees most of his life.

FH:Lumberjack?

FMH:Yes. He has a few cows and a little orchard. He has had quite a [lot of] sickness. He [was] hit with a tree [or] post and doesn't feel too good right now. Annie is the next one [and] she married Leon Jennings. She has four 00:19:00children, I think, [no] five children. She is really kept busy with church work.

FH:She's real active too?

FMH:And with her family too.

FH: They live in St. George?

FMH:They live in St. George. My brother Irvin lives in Sheldon, Washington. He works [as a social worker] with the welfare [department] up around that part of the country.

FH:He is married?

FMH:He is married to Rita Hatch and they have two children, Sandy and Mike. He is active in civic affairs but he really hasn't done too much church work. Eldon is married to Denise Dalton and they have eight children. He works for [McArthur 00:21:00Welding and is] teaching at Dixie [Junior] College this year.

FH:[He lives] in St. George?

FMH:Yes, and he is active in church and civic affairs. Ross [J.] is married to Mae Dalton and lives in Orem [Utah County, Utah]. They have two children. He is [a teacher] [in the Industrial Arts Department at] BYU [Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah County, Utah].

FH:He graduated from college?

FMH:He has his doctorate degree.

FH:[Oh.]

FMH:Thomas [P.] married Faye Dalton.

FH:That sounds like twin names.

FMH:Yes, Mae and Faye [are] twins.

FH:I see and married two brothers.

FMH:[Denise, Faye, and Mae, all sisters, married three brothers, Eldon, Thomas, and Ross] from our family. Thomas [owns] McArthur Jewelers in St. George. They have a big family. He is active in church and civic affairs too. All of my brothers and dad too, are really sold on hunting and fishing. They like to go out in the open.

FH:That is a little unusual for them to be like that and still be active in church. Seems like that pulls them away from church quite a bit.

FMH:They have all been pretty close to the church.

FH:Is that all of them? Did we get them all? That is ten.

FMH:I think that is all of them.

FH:Were there any faith-promoting experiences that you can remember in your parents' lives? Or anything like this that you would like to tell about?

FMH:Yes. One time dad came home, I don't know what the ailment was, but he was 00:24:00[very] sick at the time. He would always unhitch his horses the first thing [when] he came home, put them in the corral, and give them feed and water. But this day he had such intense pain that he came right to the house doubled up. Mama didn't know what to do. We were kind of out away from other people. The east end of St. George, at that time, wasn't very thickly populated. It was kind of hard to get in touch with the town. Mother went outside and prayed. When she came back in dad said, "I know where you have been and what you have been doing." His pain had already left him. She promised the Lord, at this time, that 00:25:00if He would make him better, she would never turn down a church position. [Which] she never did.

FH:She had a lot of faith, didn't she?

FMH:Yes, mother had lots of faith. Another time, my brother Irvin had an abscess under his arm and he was [very] sick. Mother was teaching theology lessons in Relief Society [and] she [had taken] him to the doctor the day before. The doctor told her that he wouldn't [get] better without having it lanced, but she 00:26:00knew she had to do a job in Relief Society. She felt like she should go ahead and do it. So she

decided to wait to have his arm operated on. He was in such intense pain that she [went again and] prayed to the Lord. She told Him that she had to give this lesson and if He would make Irvin better she [could] go do it. It was right after this that the abscess broke. The doctor had told her it wouldn't break, 00:27:00but it did.

FH:This relieved the pain and the suffering?

FMH:Yes, it relieved the pain and he [was] alright without having it lanced.

FH:It sounds like your mother just lived by faith. She must have been this kind of person.

FMH:Yes, I think she did.

FH:Can you tell some of the things you did, just for fun, as you were growing up? Just to have fun.

FMH:When we were small [children] we didn't have too much money. We had what we needed, I guess, but we had to make [the] most of our toys. We would play "boney horse." We would have certain bones that we would call horses and certain bones 00:28:00off the dead cows that were cows, sheep or calves.

FH:These were the dried out white bones that you picked up around where the animals had died?

FMH:Yes, these were dried out bones. We would make little harnesses for the horses and our wagons we made out of cans. We might even make them out of a match box and put wheels on them. We made our own toys most of the time. Dad made us whistles out of the willow sticks. We had mostly homemade toys in my growing-up years.

FH:In later years you worked pretty hard when you were going to school. [Did] 00:29:00you always have a lot of chores to do?

FMH:Yes. I usually had quite a few chores to do and I worked around town. We used to tend children [for] $.10 a night. I would help people with their washing or clean their house. I worked at the hotel. [Starting when] I was twelve years old I worked at what used to be the Arrowhead Hotel. I worked at the Arrowhead Hotel until the time I was married. I worked other jobs on the side when I wasn't working [at the hotel]. One summer I know that I worked at the Dixie Camp Café from four o'clock in the morning until 12:00 [noon]; then I would go to grandma's and sleep for two hours and then go to the hotel at two o'clock [in 00:30:00the afternoon] and work to ten, eleven or twelve o'clock at night, whatever time we got through. Then I would walk home.

FH:This was probably summertime work?

FMH:This was at summertime. [That] summer mama tried to get me to quit one [job] or the other. She said, "You just can't keep working like this or you will ruin your health and then you won't have anything." There was a lady by the name of Mae Knoll [who] came and stayed to our place that summer. She wanted mama to go with her on a trip to California. Mama said, "No, [I] can't go but why don't you 00:31:00take Fern?" She asked me if I wanted to go. I hadn't been on any trips before so I told her, yes, [that] I would go. I quit one job and [took] a leave on the job at the hotel and went with them. I really had a trip going to California! When I [arrived in] California and saw so many people on the streets, I said, "It looks like church has just let out!" They laughed at me. We went to the May Company 00:32:00[department store] and we [rode] on the walking stairs, the escalator. I had never seen anything like this before. When I [was] within two steps of the top I saw the steps going underneath the floor. I didn't want to get my toes caught in the top so I just made one leap over the top. They laughed at me again. [Laughter]

FH:[Laughter]

FMH:One time on this trip ─

[END OF SIDE ONE]

FMH:─ we pretended to be buyers of some of the big homes that [were for sale]. We [were able] to see lots and lots of homes that I would never have [been able] to see [if] I had not gone with [these] people who knew their way around. At one 00:33:00time we went into [a] home [of some] relatives of Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. I had never seen anything like this before. It was quite a trip for me! We went clear down into Mexico and we tried gambling. When I went in [the 00:34:00casino] I put $.50 on the roulette wheel and got back $1.50, I think. I won until I up to $7.50 and then I started to lose. I said, "I'm not going out with less than I came in with." When I [was] down to a $1.50 ahead of what I [started with], I quit.

FH:[Laughter]

FMH:That was the last [time] that I ever gambled! [Laughter]

FH:You came out pretty good on that anyway. How [did] you meet your husband? What transpired [during] your courtship years, your marriage, and the 00:35:00establishment of your home?

FMH:I met Weston [Hafen] at school. His sister, Lois, was my age and he was about a year and a half younger than [me]. I was talking with her in sewing class one day and she kind of had a case on my brother [Rex Cottam McArthur]. I hadn't even thought of going with Weston. I kind of had my eyes on two other boys. The next Sunday she brought him out to my place to visit me. A bunch of 00:36:00girls got in the back of the pickup and he drove us around sight-seeing. This went on for quite a while. Every Sunday they came over and we would go on [a] little jaunt sight-seeing around to all the places that we hadn't been. Finally he got so he wouldn't go if I wouldn't sit in the front seat with him.

FH:[Laughter]

FMH:I went with him for four years, but we really [weren't] too serious until the last year or so. He used to stop in at the hotel when I was working and wait for me to get off work and then take me home. [It] seemed like [that] if we ever 00:37:00went to a show, I would always go to sleep.

FH:You were working too many hours.

FMH:I was working so many hours. One night we rode up across the Red Hill and we were going to watch the lights. I went to sleep [and] he did too. It was two o'clock in the morning when we woke up! [Laughter]

FH:[Laughter] You were finally married to him. Where and when?

FMH:Yes, we were married in the St. George Temple [on] April 25, 1934, my dad's birthday. We had talked about getting married [before this] and he had built a 00:38:00little home for me here [in] Ivins. We had a two-room house to move into the day that we were married.

FH:That was pretty nice.

FMH:When we [were] talking of getting married, I said, "Where we would live?" At first he said, "Well, we will live in my dad's front room." I said, "No, if we are going to get married I have to have a place to go to. I won't live with my folks and so I won't live with yours." That was why we built the house before we were married.

FH:That sounds like a good idea. What was he doing to make a living [at that time]?

FMH:He was peddling fruits, and vegetables. He would go up around Milford [Beaver County, Utah], Beaver [Beaver County, Utah], and Parowan [Iron County, Utah] with his truck full of fruits and vegetables. He started peddling when he was twelve years old. His mother had died earlier and he had to help his dad 00:39:00keep their family. They had a family of nine children. He had to work hard.

FH:How many children did you have?

FMH:We had eleven children.

FH:Would you tell about each one?

FMH:Joanne is the oldest one and she was born on March 22, 1935. She [married 00:40:00and] lives in Warren, Michigan and they have seven children.

FH:[That is] a nice family.

FMH:She married Leon Mercier. He works in the machine shop. Did you want to know any more?

FH:Whatever you want to say? Is there more [about] them that you would like to say? They still [live] in Michigan?

FMH:Yes, they are still in Michigan. They have four boys and three girls. Their 00:41:00youngest one has cerebral palsy and is in a [special] home but the rest of them [live at] home. Ada Marie was born in 1937 and she isn't married. She is teaching school right now in Las Vegas [Nevada]. She went on a mission [to] the North British Mission.

FH:How long [has it been]since she returned from the North British Mission?

FMH:I think it was [July 1960] when she went and [she] came home in [January 1962]. She had gone through two years of college here and then, I think, it was 00:42:00three years at BYU. I think she has taught school for [the past] ten or twelve years. [She] taught one year in Beaver, one year in Salt Lake [City, Salt Lake County, Utah] and has been in Las Vegas [ever] since.

FH:She has had a full life.

FMH:[She] taught the Negro children out in Highland [Elementary School in Las Vegas, Nevada] until this year and now she is over at the Rozone teaching school. She has mostly white children this year and she is real happy with her class. The next one is Donald Weston. He went to school [at] Santa Clara Elementary [School] and then to Woodward [Junior] High School. [He completed] one year of college. Then he decided he would quit and go on the truck with his dad. He has [been a truck driver] ever since. He married Joan Cox from Rockville 00:43:00[Washington County, Utah] and they have three children. One of them has cerebral palsy and she is now eight years old. The last two years they wanted to put her into [a special] school. There was no school available for her in St. George because she can't talk nor walk. [She is enrolled in the Variety School for Handicap Children in Las Vegas, Nevada.]

FH:She needed special ─

FMH:She had to have a special school and help so they took her to Las Vegas. 00:44:00They have a trailer house down there and they stay Monday through Friday and then come up here on weekends.

FH:What is he doing to make a living now?

FMH:He is still [driving a] truck.

FH:Oh, yes.

FMH:He has a forty-foot truck and he [travels] from Las Vegas to Los Angeles [California] and on up here when he can get [a] load. Then [there is] Emma. Emma also went on a mission to North British. It was kind of interesting. When she wanted to go on her mission, she said to me one day, "Where do you think I would like to go?" I said, "I don't have [any] idea." She said, "I want to go to the North British Mission." At this time we already had the one girl over there in 00:45:00the North British Mission. I said, "Well, get that right out of your head because they never send two [from] the same family to the same mission." When she [received] her call, she opened it up and said, "Mama, where do you think I [am] going?" I said, "I don't have the slightest idea." She said, "North British Mission." I said, "Oh, you're kidding me. You couldn't possibly go there." She said, "Here it is, read it." It said North British Mission. I said, "The North British Mission is probably a good-sized mission. You will be at one end and Ada will be at the other end. You'll probably never get to see each other unless maybe it is [at] conference." A few days later a letter came from her mission president saying, "You have a chance to go with your sister." I said, "Well, you 00:46:00can see [that] I'm no prophet!" [Laughter]

FH:[Laughter]

FMH:She went on her mission and was a companion of Ada's for two and a half months. When she came home we went to [New York City, New York] and met her. [We] had a nice trip there. We stayed with one of her pen pals [Anita Lions] that she had written to for several years. They were Catholics but real nice people [and] they treated us [very] good. When she came back [here] she taught 00:47:00school. I guess she taught for two or two and a half years. Then she met William Smith Fife. She married him and he graduated last spring [from Brigham Young University]. Now they are living here and he is working with the Soil Conservation [Service]. They have two children.

[Our] next [child] is Charles Moroni. He went on a mission to Florida. After he had been out for a while, he transferred from the proselyting mission to a work 00:48:00mission. It never changed as far as his mission was concerned but his work took him there and that is where he spent most of his time. He finished up working on the chapel there at Live Oak, Florida. He came back home and it was only a short time until he decided he wanted to go back and get a girl that was back there for his wife. The whole family took the trip down there. He was married in the chapel that he had worked on and they came back here. They have lived here in Ivins since that time. Charles married Evelyn Voyles. They have two boys and a girl.

FH:Where do they live and what is he doing?

FMH:They live here in Ivins and he works [at The] Hawthorne Company.

FH:Oh, yes.

FMH:He helps us on the side. Wilford Leon was born in 1944. He grew up and went to Santa Clara [Elementary School], Woodward [Junior High School], and Dixie High School. He [completed] one year of college. Then he decided to quit school. [He] married Joanne Burgess. They have two girls. He [also] works [at] [The] 00:50:00Hawthorne [Company]. He [oversees one of the] departments out there. Right now, he is building a house [for his family]. Each of [our] boys built [themselves] a house with [the] help [of] their dad. This [provides] a place to live without having to pay big rent.

FH: Sure, that is fine.

FMH:They build it as they can so they don't owe anything on it when they [finish it]. McArthur was the next [child]; we call him "Mac." He went through school 00:51:00here at Santa Clara [Elementary School], Woodward [Junior High School], Dixie High School, [and] the college here. No, he [received] a scholarship and went to BYU instead of going to Dixie College. He went to BYU summer school, [or] two quarters, until January anyway, then he [received] his mission call and he is over in North Germany. Right now, he is in Berlin and real happy with his mission. He said [that] he is in the top mission of the North German Mission for baptisms now.

FH:Wonderful; he is having a good experience.

FMH:Yes, he is having a real good experience. While he was there, he [had] a chance to work with a multi-millionaire in one of the places. They moved him out of the town. He was working with them just before they moved him to Berlin. He said they might never join the church but they will always be ─

FH:Good friends of the church?

FMH:─ good friends of the church. They will always speak well of the church.

FH:Fine.

FMH:David is the next one. He is in Australia on a mission.

FH:You have two boys on a mission [now]?

FMH:Yes, he went into the mission home on August 5, [1968] and five days later he went to Australia. He has been out now [more] than three months. He is real happy with his mission.

FH:He is just getting a good start [inaudible].

FMH:Yes, he is getting a good start.

FH:Of course, he had an advantage. He didn't have to learn a language.

FMH:No, he didn't have to learn a language where [McArthur] did have to learn a language.

FH:How soon [before] McArthur [will] come home?

FMH:He'll be coming home next May, I think.

FH:Yes. That is a pretty heavy load to carry [with] two missionaries in the field.

FMH:Yes, it is. It takes a little money to support them.

FH:I should say.

FMH:The next [child] in the family was the baby we lost. It died during birth. He would have been about eighteen years old now I guess, going on eighteen anyway.

FH:Was he given a name?

FMH:No, he wasn't given a name.

FH:Okay.

FMH:The next [child] was Rebecca. Rebecca went to school at Santa Clara 00:55:00[Elementary School] and Woodward [Junior High School]. She is [at Dixie] High School now. She had a little trouble with her speech. So she has gone to summer school up [at] BYU [for] three different summers and she can talk pretty good now.

FH:They really helped her?

FMH:They really helped her.

FH:Good.

FMH:Had she not gone there, we wouldn't have known that there was anything wrong with her. Some of the nerves that go from the ear to the brain just didn't really work [and] that was the reason for her speech problem.

FH:It is wonderful that you were able to overcome that problem.

FMH:It slowed her down [and] she isn't quite up to [her] age group, maybe, in learning but she is coming along pretty good. Debra [Ann] is the last [child]. She is in the fourth grade now. She is really coming along pretty good.

FH:Good. Tell us a little bit about your own life and the things you have been doing.

FMH:Since I [was] married I have always lived right here in Ivins. After our 00:57:00third child was born, [Lula (Stucki) Tobler] decided to give up [the position of post mistress at] the post office because it was only bringing in about $.50 a week. Her husband had died [and] she decided that she couldn't keep it any longer. I decided that I would take it. At that time, the mail was only coming in three times a week. So [on] January 1, 1939, I took [over] the post office. [On] June 2, 1939 of that year I was commissioned Postmaster and I've had it ever since. It has worked up to where it is a pretty good job now.

FH:It helps you with your income.

FMH:It helps out with the missionaries there are in the field. Since I [have been] in Ivins, I've worked in most all of the organizations of the church. Over the years, I've just about worked in every class that they have taught. [Laughter] I taught the women while the men were in Priesthood, at first. I have taught Primary [and about every other] class and I've been in the presidency. I haven't been president of the Primary, I've been in the presidency, and I've held secretary positions and teacher positions. I've taught a Sunday school 00:59:00class most all the time. In MIA, I've been president, counselor, and teacher in most every class. In [the] Relief Society, I was president for about six and a half years. I've been a visiting teacher quite a few years and secretary.

FH:They have kept you busy!

FMH:I don't have time to get into much mischief!

FH:No! [Laughter]

FMH:On the side I've done quilts. One year I did eighteen quilts. This fall I [made] about eight.

FH:You do this on your own besides taking care of the post office and all your church work?

FMH:Yes, I [also] did a little bit of needlework on the side.

FH:I marvel that you even had time to give me your story!

FMH:[Laughter]

FH:After all [of] this wonderful lifetime experience and this fine family, I think maybe you are qualified to give council and advice to them and your future generations. What would you like to tell them? Would you like to bear your testimony?

FMH:I would like to tell them to always stay close to the Lord in everything that they do. Keep close to Him. Go to all their church meetings that they can and also help in the civic positions. Do all they can to help anybody.

FH:It sounds like you are actually to tell them to keep their lives well balanced. Isn't that what you are saying?

FMH:Yes, I think that would be real good. Get all the education that they can, too.

FH:Good counsel. Do you have a testimony of the gospel?

FMH:Yes, I really have a testimony of the gospel. I know that the gospel is true. If I didn't, I wouldn't have sent all these children into the mission field and worked in the church like I have, if I didn't feel like it was true. I know that the gospel is true. That Lord hears and answers prayers and that He 01:02:00will bless us if we put forth an effort.

[END OF SIDE TWO]