April 29, 2010

MY AUTHOBIOGRAPHY


LaMar Stevenson Williams
January 22, 1942
I was born on 4 December 1911 at Groveland, Idaho, the only son of Peter J. Williams and Eloisa Call. I have eight full sisters, a half brother and a sister, and a stepbrother.
On the 4 February 1912, I was blessed and named by Joe E. Hart. I believe this took place at Groveland.
About eight months later we moved from Groveland to a place several miles away which was about two miles East of Blackfoot. Father cleared the land, which was mostly sagebrush, and built a comfortable five-room bungalow. It was here that I spent eight years of happy childhood. It was at this home that I enjoyed the happy association of my mother. Well do I remember her doughnuts and the little handful of raisins slipped into my lunch pale, and the penny for candy that came from her small secret savings. One of them I still have. I remember how her back and legs ached after a long hard day of work, and how I would rub them to relive the pain. Yes, she was a pal of mine. But something I couldn’t understand why she would bring another baby girl into the family instead of a brother. That didn’t seem right to me. Little did I realize how badly she wanted another son, yes perhaps just for my sake, until on her death-bed she called me over by her side, took hold of my hand and said, “Son if I live I will be your little brother,” and her lips spoke no more. That meant a lot to me when a lad of eight but much, very much more since I’ve become a man. The sweet tender memories of that dear mother will accompany me through eternity.


It was during these first few years that I made my first money. There was an old Englishman living near us. He made his winter mittens out of rabbits called Belgium Hares, and so I had father kill two of them. I sold the hides to this gentleman and he gave me seventy-five cents for them. The first time I went into town I changed this to pennies. What a lot of money. The most I ever had; by purse was so full I couldn’t keep it shut. This was my first business deal.


Father was a Bishop of the First Ward in Blackfoot, Idaho during most of this time, and well do I remember the many trips to town in the buggy. I believe that this regular church activity was very wholesome, for rarely in my life have I missed church service; having traveled as far as eighty miles to attend a Sacrament Meeting.


My duty around home at this early age was to keep mother in coal and kindling and to herd the cows in the summer time. Father gave me an Indian pony-we brought home from the Indians. In a fit of rage one of the Indians had blinded his right eye with a hammer, but Billy was still a fine horse. He was about the best friend I had. Many long days in the summer we spent together.


Father worked in a grocery store “Blackfoot Mercantile” during the winter. I happened to be waiting for him in the store while they were sweeping and getting ready to close for the night. I saw a discarded receipt book stub on the floor. Picking it up I quickly concealed it in my pocket. It was of no value since it was merely small blank pieces of paper held together with two small staple clamps. However, it immediately became a treasure of mine. On our way home in the buggy father asked me what I had in my pocket. I told him nothing, so he asked me to take everything out. I emptied one pocket very slowly, but father evidently didn’t care about what was in that pocket it was the contents of the other. So with a little persuasion I removed the contents one by one, but I just couldn’t seem to find that ill-gotten receipt stub; Oh! Yes, there it was right down in the very corner. I managed to get a hold of it and with a terrible inward struggle I got it dislodged and conveyed to the surface. Father was kind enough, but the force and the significance of the lesson in honesty will go down with me to my grave.


EARLY TRIPS ~
Up until I had graduated from High School I had not been any farther away from home than Brigham City, Utah. I then went to Moscow, Idaho to college, a trip that took me first to Montana, then through the pan-handle of northern Idaho into Washington, and then back into Idaho at Moscow; this was a trip of about 800 miles. I have always believed that the expectation of this travel was the main reason for my going to college. During the following spring, my friend, Rodney Hansen, and I decided to go to Seattle, Washington. So on about March 4th we started out walking. We each had about six dollars. We caught rides, walked, slept in barns, went hungry, wore blisters, ate in restaurants, slept in hotels, saw Puget Sound in Washington, went up 27 stories on an elevator in a 42 story building, walked some more, saw both Seattle and Spokane, and arrived back home from our trip of over 1000 miles in three and a half days with fifty cents a piece in our pockets.
The summer of 1935 I was working for the Chevrolet Garage in Blackfoot. A man from Lead, South Dakota had a wreck in his new car. We didn’t have the parts for it and had to send back to the factory for them. It was necessary for he and his party to return by train, but before leaving he arranged with me to take his car back. He offered to pay the expenses for both Nyal and me. We took Marilyn, our only child then with us. We went by way of Yellowstone Park. The route took us across the northern part of Wyoming, through the Black Hills, and into Lead, South Dakota. We returned a week later via bus spending a few days in Farmington, Utah with Grandfather Casey Potter Bowen who died a few weeks ago, January 27, 1942.
Our next trip was our mission which took us to Lansing, Michigan. On our return we went to visit Mother’s sister, Aunt Vesa Marler, at Independence, Missouri. While here we visited the Liberty Jail and stood on the same floor where the Prophet Joseph spent six months in Prison and wrote the 121,122, and 123 sections of the Doctrine and Covenants. We saw the temple site, and many other interesting things. Our trip brought us back through Kansas and Colorado.

March 8, 2010

FAITH PROMOTING EXPERIENCES

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A sister, Myrtle Kerr, of my wife’s brother-in-law Max Kerr, had a young son about fifteen years of age lying near death in the Spencer Hospital in Idaho Falls, Idaho. He had a serious case of pneumonia. Dr. Abbott tested his lungs and found them full of pus. It was very doubtful that Robert would live. The Doctor stated that an operation must be preformed the next morning in order to save his life and even at that his chances for recovery would be small.

That evening I was at Max Kerr’s home when his sister, Robert’s mother came from the hospital. She asked my wife if I held the priesthood and if I could get some one to assist. I consented and immediately called Bishop Groesbeck of the Second Ward. I had never officiated in any church ordinance except Baptism, so this was one time I really got down on my knees and prayed. When we arrived at the sick bed Myrtle asked if I would be mouth, so the Bishop anointed and I sealed the anointing. I did not follow the exact procedure, because I didn’t know it, so I just prayed without sealing the anointing. While I was praying I felt that I should promise him health and that he had a mission to perform in this life, this I did.
When I left the hospital Bishop Groesbeck reminded me that I should always seal and anointing and do it by the authority of the priesthood.
The next morning while at work, I received a phone call from Sister Kerr stating that they had taken her son to the operating room and upon a thorough examination could not find any trace of pus. The Doctor was not L.D.S. and stated, “I do not understand what has happened. I have never seen anything like that before.”
This experience was one of my first strong testimonies. February 2, 1942
The Healing of Laddie Bowen Williams
Laddie, as we call him, was in his second year. His health was rather poor due to intestinal disorders. The year before we had nearly lost him with the same trouble; thus when he became ill we were very concerned about him especially so when he failed to take nourishment for a period of three days. At the end of this time my wife, Nyal, became very anxious and five of the neighbors also came, unsolicited, to offer help and to encourage us to take him immediately to a doctor. We had consulted a physician over a telephone, but having fasted several meals and committing myself to much praying, along with my wife; I was convinced that I should place the situation in the hands of the Lord. I know from the expression of my kind and generous neighbors that they thought I was acting very stubbornly, especially when I was usually the first to advise a doctor’s care.
When Ralph Dabb, an Elder and associate school teacher came to offer the use of his car, I asked him to assist me in administering to Laddie. This we did and immediately following we departed for Idaho Falls, a distance of eight miles, to purchase some medicine at a drug store. We arrived back in about an hour and to my satisfaction and that of Ralph’s Laddie had eaten a banana and had drunk a glass of milk mixed with a raw egg, and more surprising than all was that he was playing Ring Around The Rosy with  his sister Marilyn. This was another testimony to me that God lives and that he hears and answers our prayers when we place our trust in him. February 6, 1941

ACCIDENTS 
An injured eye - When I was about seven years old, I injured my right eye. It happened one evening a day or two before the fourth of July. I wanted to go down to James Hofer's
As soon as they left I went to the neighbors who lived about one half mile east of our home. While there Jim, as we called him, got angry at his older sister Ruth because she told him he could not have a cap gun; so he picked up a square piece of linoleum lying near his foot and threw it at her. It sailed like boomerang through the air missing her and hitting me in the eye with it's sharp corner. Although, I learned a costly lesson in discipline, I will always carry a black mark in my right eye. For a short time I was blind but now I have a two thirds vision in that eye. 
I have been very fortunate up until now in not having any serious accidents of any kind although my blessings make mention of them. February 11, 1941

MY HOBBIES


I had a hobby of inventing. After getting several patents on an electrical connector, spending several hundred dollars, wasting more time on a combination Salt and Pepper Shaker, a door knob, bobby pins, mouse traps, and etc. I have decided that it is not a paying proposition.
One hobby I have enjoyed though is the molding or carving of objects and people. My wife has my best specimen. It is valued rather highly by her.
I also take moving pictures with a small 16mm machine. This is rather costly, so I have not developed it very far. But I do have some good pictures of the construction of the Idaho Falls Temple and its dedication. I am proud that I got to work some on this building.

BOOK READ
 Texts                                                                            Other Books
School Room Management                                              New Testiment
Child Psychology by Curti                                                         God’s Covenant Race
Introduction to Sociology by Davis and others                 The Way to Perfection by
                                                                                            Joseph Fielding Smith
Advanced Psychology by Griffith                                               Visions
Secondary Education by Butler                                        The Life of the Prophet
                                                                                             Joseph Smith
Fishes, Amphibians, and Reptiles by Tanner                     One Who is Valiant
Contemporary Sociology by Bogardus                              The Life of Parley P. Pratt
Descriptive Geometry by French                                               Thirteen Articles of Faith                                                                                                      by James E. Talmage
Plane Surveying
English Composition
Our World Today and Yesterday
Treasure Island
Adventures of Count Von Luckner
Class Room Organization
Geometry
Algebra
Economic Geography “Raw Materials and Marketing
Principles of Accounting
Economics
Gregg’s Shorthand
Idaho School Law

POSITIONS HELD IN THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS

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President of Deacons Quorum - Wapello, Idaho
Secretary of Teachers Quorum - Wapello, Idaho
Chorister of Wapello, Moscow, Pocatello, Iona
Dance Representative with partner of L.D.S. Institute and South Eastern Idaho at  Salt Aire, Salt Lake. 1932
Sunday School Teacher – Wapello, Riverside, Iona, Idaho
Member of Sunday School Stake Board, Idaho Falls Stake
Aaronic Priesthood Supervisor – Iona Ward
Drama Director – Iona Ward
Member Welfare Committee of Elder’s quorum – Iona
Chairman Radio Committee – Idaho Falls Stake
Missionary to Northern States
Second Councilor in Bishopric – Iona Ward, age 28 – 900 members

February 18, 2010

MISSION ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE NORTHERN STATES MISSION

Marilyn                                    Laddie
Taken in Chicago, Illinois
May 1940

Honor Missionaries
A missionary farewell party for Mr. and Mrs. LaMar Williams
of Iona will be held in the Iona will be held in the Iona L.D.S. Chapel
Tuesday Night May 14th at 8 pm prior to their departure for the Northern States Mission
A program and dance will follow





February 9, 2010

EARLY TRIPS~


Up until I had graduated from High School I had not been any farther away from home than Brigham City, Utah. I then went to Moscow, Idaho to college, a trip that took me first to Montana, then through the pan-handle of northern Idaho into Washington, and then back into Idaho at Moscow; this was a trip of about 800 miles. I have always believed that the expectation of this travel was the main reason for my going to college. During the following spring, my friend, Rodney Hansen, and I decided to go to Seattle, Washington. So on about March 4th we started out walking. We each had about six dollars. We caught rides, walked, slept in barns, went hungry, wore blisters, ate in restaurants, slept in hotels, saw Puget Sound in Washington, went up 27 stories on an elevator in a 42 story building, walked some more, saw both Seattle and Spokane, and arrived back home from our trip of over 1000 miles in three and a half days with fifty cents a piece in our pockets.
The summer of 1935 I was working for the Chevrolet Garage in Blackfoot. A man from Lead, South Dakota had a wreck in his new car. We didn’t have the parts for it and had to send back to the factory for them. It was necessary for he and his party to return by train, but before leaving he arranged with me to take his car back. He offered to pay the expenses for both Nyal and me. We took Marilyn, our only child then with us. We went by way of Yellowstone Park. The route took us across the northern part of Wyoming, through the Black Hills, and into Lead, South Dakota. We returned a week later via bus spending a few days in Farmington, Utah with Grandfather Casey Potter Bowen who died a few weeks ago, January 27, 1942.
 Our next trip was our mission which took us to Lansing, Michigan. On our return we went to visit Mother’s sister, Aunt Vesa Marler, at Independence, Missouri. While here we visited the Liberty Jail and stood on the same floor where the Prophet Joseph spent six months in Prison and wrote the 121,122, and 123 sections of the Doctrine and Covenants. We saw the temple site, and many other interesting things. Our trip brought us back through Kansas and Colorado.

WORK POSITIONS HELD~

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Newspaper boy at Passenger Depot at Blackfoot, Idaho - Age 8
Janitor L.D.S. Chapel at Wapello – Age 12 to 16
Service Station Manager – Blackfoot, Riverside, and Shelley
College Student (Honorable Duke and National Viceroy of Intercollegiate Knights, University of Idaho - Pocatello, Idaho, 1932-1933)
Cook and Mess Stewart – Civilian Conservation Corp. 13 months
Delivery Department Peterson’s Furniture Co. Pocatello, Idaho
Clerk in Safeway Chain Store
Head Chairman on Land Conservation Survey, Bonneville County, Idaho
School Teacher
Inventor – two patents applied for and pending.