Another time, perhaps Dad didn’t feel I was reading enough Church books so he made a deal with me. “I’ll pay you a penny for every page of a Church book you read.” Now that was a righteous bribe that worked very well in my case. Dad also liked doing things with just me. One Saturday afternoon, he and I listened to the BYU football game on the shortwave radio, as it was broadcast on Armed Forces Radio. We could have listened to it on the local station, KSL, but it was funner on shortwave.
Dad grew up as the oldest of four children. His father was a printer and his mother was a poet and a saint. He loved music and almost pursued a career in music. However, the electricity in him won out and he worked very hard to become an electrical engineer. As a young man he served a mission for the Church in Denmark for two and a half years.
Dad certainly let his righteous influence be felt in our home. He called us all together each Monday night with a little dinner bell for Family Home Evening. We rotated responsibilities each week for this. My last few years at home I had to work most Monday nights, so I missed out on the most important meeting of the week, Family Home Evening. Daily scripture study and family prayers were also a way Dad had of influencing us. And Mom was right there every step with him, helping him to make it all happen.
But his greatest influence came in what he didn’t say. It came silently in his constant example. For example, he never told the children to tell a caller on the phone that he wasn’t there. He was always honest and cordial in his relationships with others. And he was very kind to other people. There was once a boy who was the hellion of the neighborhood. Dad was always nice to him. “I’d rather have him as my friend than as my enemy,” Dad explained.
When he prayed, either in kneeling in family prayer or blessing the food, he always talked with Heavenly Father. Certainly God was his friend.
Coming Tomorrow: My Sister Vera
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