My Big Brother (funeral, 2008)

Left: Merrill and Rendall. Rendall followed Merrill into home construction.
Below: Merrill, Rendall and Dad (Warren Hunt) at Rendall's birthday June 28, 2006.


Merrill was my really my best friend! I know there are many here today who feel the same way about my brother?
Losing him is really a shock – but he has suffered so much the past five years.
So I feel I need celebrate more the life of my brother – for a job well done. I know he had a dream of going on a mission as a young man, but he and Vicki had been sweethearts since junior high and they decided to get married when he was 18 years old. He didn’t go on a mission – but I believe you’ll all agree – he accomplished his mission!

1. Merrill was born 19 months before I was, Aug. 1, 1949, when my parents were living in Lark – up by Copperton – up by the Copper mine – that big hole up in the mountains. (I was born Feb. 27, 1950.)

2. When we were young, Merrill was always doing fun things – and I was always tagging along – and that includes tagging along with him and Vicki when they went on dates to the Valley Vu drive-in. It was sort of a ritual! When we arrived, they always give me the best view – probably because I was so short. It was so nice of them, really. They always let me sit in the front seat of the car – while they graciously took the backseat. I remember many times Merrill arguing with Mom to let me go to the drive-in with them. (not!)

3. I always looked up to Merrill – and not just because I’m short. He always set a good example for me. I don’t ever recall Merrill not doing what he was supposed to do. He went to school, did his homework and did his priesthood duties. It just seemed so normal that I just followed along.

4. Merrill was always good at sports – so I tried to follow his example. I remember our one on one basketball games in the driveway, which wasn’t much of a contest. I figured if I could score a few times, then I had won.
5. Some times we played two on one – usually Bruce Sharp and me against Merrill.
6. When Merrill starred at Granger High in football and basketball, I got to be a manager. It was a blast watching him play. One game that I remember best was a football game at old Bingham High school up at Copperton. It was freezing cold and had snowed – but they played the game any way. Merrill caught a long-bomb touchdown pass right down the middle of the field. It was great.
7. Dad says he remembers going to Merrill’s games when Merrill had a cast on his arm after breaking it down at Uncle Lloyd’s – I think it was while he was loading hay. Dad took Rendall in his arms and watched from the sidelines and would run up and down the field, watching in the pileups to make sure Merrill didn’t hurt his arm again.
8. After Merrill married, he still was around to help his sisters Troyleen and Trena, and his little brother, Rendall.
9. Rendall says he remembers vividly going hunting for the first time with Merrill when he was about 8 years old. It was down in the Fishlake area with Uncle Coy and some of the family. Rendall remembers that there was a snowstorm while they were there. That’s when Merrill taught him an important hunting lesson when climbing steep mountains – climb 20 or 30 feet and then stop and look! That was his rule – hike a ways and “stop and look.” Rendall says he’s taught the same principal to his boys. It’s funny, though, the principal doesn’t apply when going downhill!
10. Rendall started working full-time for Merrill in construction when he was 16 years old. He said Merrill taught him many of the things that lead him to his current position in construction. There are a few others here who probably would say the same thing.
11. One of the family mottos. We’re not sure how many generations it goes back. Merrill and I learned it from our Dad – Warren, then Merrill’s kids and my kids learned it from us – and who knows how far down it will go. Is it OK if I say it here? When on the job, Merrill would tell his workers to: Get your butt behind you!
12. Rendall says Merrill became his father figure after our parents divorced. Merrill was the one that tried to kick him and keep him going.

True Meaning of a Hunt Thanksgiving!

It was the night before Thanksgiving and all through the house was the smell of cooked turkey, ham and marshmallow yams.

Then as we sat at the dining table with food galore, we each recited those things we were thankful for – and more!
When it was my turn, I spouted a few things quite obvious – and then listened to the others with similar strains.
Then later that night as I prayed to my Heavenly Father in the dark and silence of the beautiful night, I realized I had failed to thank him for so much more!
Then humbled and contrite, I began to recite to my Almighty Father all those things that have meant so much to me from my beginning.
First off, I thanked my Father in Heaven for the chance to be and to face all the challenges that haven’t been so keen. It’s not bad that we have challenges, it’s how we handle them – and thanks to so many, I’m still here today.
My mother, Lorraine, and my father, Warren, struggled all my childhood to keep us fed and happy. My mother made the best meals – from very simple ingredients – but some of my favorites were her chili and homemade pizza and cinnamon rolls. She was the one who helped me with my reading and kept up on me to do my homework. She was always there when I was sick – and as a child I seemed always to be sick. That is, until I got my tonsils out.
She was the strongest in the gospel and always pushed us as a family to go to church. My years with the family clear up until I went on my mission was spent around church activities – singing, ward plays, Scouts, basketball, softball, camping, Father and Sons campouts, home teaching, priesthood assignments, picking tomato worms off the church farm plants, cleaning bricks off the Harmon Ward building as it was being built and the chapel wall fell, picking corn on the stake farm, thinning the sugar beets, planting the tomatoes, weeding the tomatoes, picking the tomatoes. I remember that after the harvest for the church, families were allowed to glean from the fields all the tomatoes they could bottle. We did bushels and bushels of tomatoes, tomato juice, stew, ketchup and pizza sauce.
I remember as a young boy going camping with my family. We had a special campsite above Brighton. We camped there every year until the chairlift was put right in our campground. There was a stream down just a little north of the campsite, a hillside to the east with granite boulders.

One year we trapped a porcupine in a small cave between boulders. Merrill tried to hit it with a branch from above. We knew better than to get too close or get behind it. I don’t think we hurt it too much, but I’m surprised now that we didn’t get hit by quills.

It might have been the same trip, but Merrill went flying down the trail to the creek and went flying. He hit his head on a rock. I think he was saying as he was running down the trail “Superman,” or maybe it was after he landed. He wasn’t hurt until I pointed out all the blood pouring down his forehead. Dad had to rush him down the mountain to get stitches.

Dad says it was the same trip when he was trying to build up a fire with a can of gasoline, which we all know is a no-no. But Dad was smarter than the can of gas – at least he thought so. However, the flames from the small campfire just raced up the can and caught his shirt sleeve on fire. I still remember his sleeve on fire. I can’t remember how he put it out but he kept waving it like it would help. Mom had to take him down to the hospital and get it cleaned and bandaged. Quite the trip!
On one of those other trips we had most of the Butt family with us, including Grandma and Grandpa, David, Clifford, Vivian and his bride, Doris. I think I fell in love with her then – she was the best. Vivian was so lucky. The adults set up a card table and played cards. I got to play sometimes because Grandpa had taught me how to play. We also played softball, but it wasn’t as fun as playing cards with the adults.
Dave never got married until after his mission to the Great Lakes and then after his accident at ZCMI. I remember when it happened. He said he stepped into an elevator that had a burned-out lightbulb. But this time it opened and there wasn’t an elevator. He fell down the shaft somewhere between 20 and 30 feet, I think. He broke a lot of bones. While he was in traction in the hospital, he met Elaine. After he got out of the hospital, he stayed with us and we took care of him for weeks. I think for the first while he still was bedridden. Then he got mobile and started dating Elaine. They eventually got married. She has always been such a sweetie!

Dave has had a lot of problems with his one leg all his life since the accident – but he has kept on going through two replacements. I’ve always admired him for his strength and faith.
I remember one priesthood adviser, especially. Bro. Ralph Cloward. He lived across the street from us. He was so humble. I wasn’t so impressed with him then, but looking back, I realized how he loved us and did his job and worked with us snotty boys. He helped me do my job.

I remember Bishop Leanard Harmon. I loved listening to him speak.

I remember Pres. Wallace Bawden – and especially one priesthood session when he talked to us men about welfare assignments. He said there are three types of people, (1) those who say they will do an assignment and do it; (2) those who say they will do an assignment and don’t do it; (3) and those who say they won’t do an assignment and then do it. Which causes the most problems for the church? How does that apply to us in life?
My father was always by our sides in all the church activities – and there were a lot of church socials. We loved to make homemade ice cream. Dad taught Merrill and me, first and foremost, how to work. It seemed that if we were with Dad, we were working, unless it was a church campout or family campout. I remember a couple of times when Dad was younger him playing basketball with us. He probably played more with Merrill when I was too young. I remember him hitting us the softball in our big backyard and we practiced catching the flies.

When it came to the work, it was always – “get your butt behind you.” I think he meant we weren’t doing it right or we weren’t really getting into the job. Do it 100% and we’ll get done sooner, I think was the message. “If we all work together, we’ll get done sooner.” We seemed to spend almost every Friday night and Saturday at the old apartments at 5th North and 5th West (about there). Just on the west side of the main railroad tracks. They were rental apartments and were constantly in need of new painting or wallpapering, or roofing, or linoleum, carpeting, flooring, plumbing (above and below), electrical work.

I still say Merrill learned a lot of his construction skills from those days, but maybe he learned how not to do things. I learned what I used later in my marriage to build things and repair things in our homes in Kearns and then in West Jordan. Dad was a drill sergeant when it came to work. But I remember the ritual – we would almost always stop at the Dee’s Drive-In on North Temple and stop for a hamburger, fries and a root beer float. I usually got a foot-long hot dog.
I’m thankful that Dad and Mom allowed Merrill and me the freedom to explore and do things for ourselves. Dad built a chicken coop in the northeast corner of our back yard. After the “experiment” and a lot of frozen chicken meat, we turned it into a clubhouse.
Troyleen was really upset when Dad killed the rabbits – they were another experiment. They tasted a lot like chicken meat, but Mom and Troy didn’t like eating them. They flopped all over the yard after the Dad took the hunting knife to them.
Anyway, we kept fixing up the clubhouse, put leftover sheetrock on the inside and even put an old window in where the screen window had been. I put in a secret back door, too. I put in a hanging flower box below the window. But we had a dirt floor for a long time. I remember Dad and Mom allowing us to collect newspapers for weeks and weeks one summer. We finally filled the clubhouse with newspapers, then loaded them up and took them to recycling. We got enough money to put in a concrete floor (not cement floor. Merrill taught me the difference).

Dad was there to take the load, help us do the concrete floor and then took all us boys, Merrill, me, Gene Openshaw, Bruce Sharp and I think Dennis Paxton to a drive-in movie – I believe it was a Tarzan movie.

Blame my Dad for teaching me how to work long hours for my family – that’s what he did – whether he was at work at HAFB or doing new projects at home – like always remodeling our house, making it bigger and nicer for Mom, or putting in a “bomb shelter” food storage cellar mound behind the garage. We had to dig a hole (us boys thought that was kind of fun at first for the first few feet. Then it got to be real work, because Dad would come out and tell us, “No, it’s got to be a lot deeper. I don’t think we ever got it as deep as Dad wanted. We got it down about five feet below ground level – or as low as we could go because of the water level at the time in Granger. Then Dad rounded up (I don’t think he very often bought building material (all the wood for the chicken coop was garbage from Hill Air Force Base) some railroad ties and we stacked them up around the edges of the hole another three ties high. I think we used long stacks to “secure” them together. Then we covered the whole thing with more railroad ties. I’m not sure if we put plastic or roof covering on the ties. We covered the whole thing with all the dirt from the hole and then got more from the garden area and mounded it. Then Dad planted grass. After a few months, we actually had to mow on top of it. Oh, we also put in a vent so we would have air. If we would have had a N-bomb, we would have been goners!!! But it was a great root cellar, food storage cellar. But I hated going in there because the black widows loved it, too. There seemed to always be a black widow in the corner right next to the door. Oh, we also had to take out a section of concrete in the garage and made stairs down to the garage foundation, which we had to drill out, too. We put in a door with a lock. I think Merrill had to do most of the drilling work.
Dad set a great example for us boys in church activity at that time. I remember how much I enjoyed listening to Dad give a talk because it was always so informative and entertaining. I didn’t fall asleep like I did listening to so many others. I wanted to give talks like him. Many people say I ended up being a very informative and entertaining church speaker. I loved reading the Book of Mormon. I think it was when I was in ninth grade and in seminary. I read the Book of Mormon and loved the stories and I loved the spirit I felt as I read it. Dad loved the scriptures, too, when he had to do a lesson or give a talk. He would sit in the house office and have about six books opened up and getting details and quotes from so many different sources.
Anyway, during that time of reading the Book of Mormon for the first time (I’ve read it several times), I had such a strong spiritual witness that it was all true and that the church is true, Joseph Smith was a true prophet that God was behind all the work. I have always believed that since – but I haven’t always lived it as I should. I have had bouts of “depression” over life’s trials. I am truly thankful for that testimony, which has served as the iron rod in my life – though at times I have wandered into forbidden paths.
I am thankful for my ancestors who embraced the gospel and went through so many great trials, especially those who gave their lives in Nauvoo and coming across the Plains to Zion.
I am thankful for my Grandmother Butt, who always let me come up and stay with them in Copperton on the weekends. Blame her for my first taste of Pepsi. She loved the stuff – and for making sure there is butter over all the slice of bread, including the four corners. Most of all, I am grateful for her sense of adventure. Several times I traveled with her alone or with Merrill to California to visit Vivian and David. I loved those times. When I got a little older, they let me play basketball with them. Those were precious times for me. I always looked up to my uncles – for their basketball skills and their smarts. It was they who got me interested in space, the universe and Einstein and E=Mc2.
I read about Einstein when I was young – and then Varner Von Braen, the German rocket scientist who was the father of U.S. rocket science. I remember talking some really deep science stuff with Vivian and Dave, who were in engineering courses at the time. It opened my mind to the possibilities.
Grandmother Butt also drove Merrill and me all the way back to Harrisburg, Pa., when Dad was stationed at an Air Force base back there that was closing down. Merrill drove part of the way. I was going into my junior year. It was the next day after Merrill’s graduation. It was not a good time for Merrill. If he had stayed, he probably would have ended up playing basketball at one of the junior colleges. But that was a different life path.
I am grateful for a glorious adventure we had back east that summer. We visited all the historical sites, Mt. Vernon, Philadelphia, Niagara Falls, New York, D.C. and all the monuments. We visited Palmyra, The Sacred Grove, Joseph Smith’s home and we watched the Hill Cumorah Pageant. We also witnessed a baptism in the Sasquehanna River, which is the same river that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery baptized each other after receiving the Aaronic Prisesthood from Angel John the Baptist. Check out my scrapbook for all the places we went. One of my favorite was Hershey, Pa. We could smell the chocolate miles outside the city. Blame that visit for my love of Hershey chocolate.
I’m thankful for my Grandfather Butt. He was so humble and loving – though he was quiet in showing it. He showed it by the time he gave me. He worked hard as a train conductor at Kennecott but got home by about 3 or 4 in the afternoon. So when I was there, especially on Saturdays, he would entertain me. (Grandma just wanted me to entertain myself. I did that a lot with building blocks that Grandpa made. They were about three inches long and ¾ inch square. I could build incredible castles and towers. I built the tower of Babel many times. When I was a little older, I would take one of their tennis balls and bounce it off the seven stairs in front of their porch and try to catch it. If it hit an edge, it would take a crazy bounce. I envisioned myself as a pitcher and tried to hit the third stair right in the middle. I got pretty good. I also would bounce it off the garage in back. I played a lot of basketball back there, too. That’s where Clifford, Vivian and David got their start in basketball – the hoop on the double garage.
Grandpa Butt loved playing cards and played a lot of solitaire. He taught me how to play – his way. He also taught me how to play canasta. We had to have four play that – I think it was Merrill, me, Grandpa and Grandma. I think Clifford played some times, too. Grandma liked playing canasta, too.
Grandpa did something special for me – that I will always be grateful for. He worked with me many times on my math. He taught me tricks in addition that I still use. It’s because of what he taught me that I ended up winning the prize for being the best in math in my class in fourth grade at Monroe Elementary. The girl that I was battling during the last month of school was Lena Newbold. We had to do all the sets at the back of the book without any errors. I was the first to do it. And it was because of what Grandpa Butt taught me – addition, subtraction, division, multiplication. Unfortunately, no one in the family was much good at spelling.
I am eternally grateful for an older brother that always set a good example – in church, in sports, in school -- everything. He was also my protector. It was OK for him to beat me up – when I teased him or Troyleen, but no one else could. Because of him, I worked extra hard to become like him. It wasn’t until I got into writing in high school at the end of my sophomore year and then on the newspaper my junior year that I found my niche. I was good at basketball, but I was too small and not good enough. If we had lived in Sevier, for example, I would have been a starter, I believe. But I didn’t – so I was a star on the church basketball team. Bruce Sharp and I made a good duo – inside and out.
Merrill always did his homework and did well in school. It didn’t seem too hard for him. So I did my homework, too. It was a habit that served us well. Merrill always did his church assignments. I did, too, for the most part. Merrill wanted to go on a mission, but marriage was his calling.
I’m forever grateful that I served a mission – even if it was for only about 16 months. Serving the Lord in a faraway land in a different language and far away from family and girlfriend was a huge challenge. I wanted to come home so many times. But at the same time I had so many good experiences and learned so much. I wish I had been even a better missionary. The highlights were the PR work in San Jose, Costa Rica, especially the Fairdia de Flores (Fair of Flowers) in which we set up a booth and had food donated to sell and raise funds for the charity linked to the Fair. We played Tabernacle Choir music, had a big poster of the choir, handed out a lot of literature and made a lot of good impressions. Then I helped put together the play “Todo All Favor” (“All in Favor”) with Costa Rican members playing all the parts. I had been in the play when I was a junior or senior in high school for church. In the middle of rehearsals there in San Jose, I was shipped home with bone cancer.
I’m grateful for that night in my hospital bed when I prayed and prayed to my heavenly father, not for a cure, but for a chance to go on – to get married and have children. Finally, I had a strong feeling that everything would work out – that the Lord heard my prayer and that I would have that chance. After that, the doctors and nurses were shocked and worried about my positive attitude. I would jokingly say to save the leg – Thanksgiving was just around the corner!
I’m grateful to my wife, Nancy, who has stuck with me for more than 30 years despite all my problems. She has worked so hard – and especially now when I can’t do very many things for myself. I feel so bad for the times when I get angry with Nancy because of her failings, and forget, myself, about all that she does for me. She has tried so hard – and yet I know she would like things to be different. We’ve had some great adventures and vacations. Time has flown by so fast. I remember the fun we had dating, going to dances, Utah Stars games, Utah hockey games in the Salt Palace. Our platonic relationship for almost two years. But it was worth it! Love you!

Caption: Left, Nancy running the sound for Hunt Mysteries atThe Riverboat in Murray in 1994; Nancy and me at Embassy Suites in Jan. of 2007.

I’m grateful for Nancy’s family, who accepted me into their family as if I was one of them – despite my problems. They became my family. It seemed we spent all our free time, eating, dining, camping, talking with Nancy’s family. We were always finding an excuse to get together – and many of those excuses where BYU football games and some basketball games. After we were married all within months of each other, Bruce, Jim, JoAnn and spouses spent a lot of time together. After Jay got in the Air Force, we didn’t get to see him much – until really after he and Michelle got married and started that huge family of boys!

The best memories where the trips we took to Bruce & Chris’ cabin. It was such a blessing for us to bound with them. After so much bounding over the years, everyone started to move away. First JoAnn, then Bruce, then Jim and then Mom. It was really hard on Nancy – and it was hard on me. Bruce and Chris had become my closest friends and advisers. I think that’s why they moved – to get away from all our troubles.
I’m grateful for a job at Deseret Morning News that has carried me for more than 33 years -- the security and benefits it has provided.
I’m grateful that I have lived during a time after the Great Depression and when the economy has been good – which means I’ve kept my job.
I’m so grateful for my children. The memories of when they were babies and how much I enjoyed playing with them. I remember a toy box that I built for the girls with a lid. It had two steps on each of the two sides and all of it carpeted. We wanted them to learn to do stairs because we had none in our house but stairs in all the homes we visited. I get depressed when I realize how much I missed because I was working so many hours while they were growing up. I know I failed them in so many ways – looking back at it. But they bring so much happiness into my life. I love it – like at this time when we’re all together and that we love to be together and there isn’t anyone that feels left out.

There have been times when I have been frustrated with some of their choices, but I’m grateful for what they have accomplished and what they are striving to do. Things could be a lot worse – and I’m grateful they aren’t! I love them all! I’m grateful for Leif and Ty – two great sons in law. It’s so hard to let go of your children – but at least the girls have two great guys to catch them! Thanks, guys!
I’m so grateful for our grandchildren. I just love sitting and watching them explore and learn and have fun. I see so much of my children in them. Yesterday, Evie saw a picture of Nancy and me with all our children. Mom was holding Nathan when he was about three years old. Evie said, "There’s my cousin, Jakob." I still have a beautiful picture of Nathan under my glass at my desk at work when he was two years old. Amazing how much the two of them look alike. Where did my baby, Nathan, go!? And, what’s this with the beard?
If there is anything I can leave for my children and my grandchildren are that I’ve worked hard, too hard, for many years, to provide for Mom and the kids. I don’t know how to do anything else. ( I learned that from my Dad!), but that I love them, I love my Father in Heaven, I’m not sure how he will judge me, but I know he’ll understand me, more than I understand myself – and what I’ve gone through. More than anything, I want my children and grandchildren to know that the most important thing in life is striving to be the best you can be – more like what Heavenly Father wants you to be, and that family is the most important thing in life – despite all our challenges.
I’m sure I’ll think of many other things now that I’m closing, but that’s life. We always have some regrets! Love, Dad!

The Last Days, Lesson 21, 2008

Here's a different kind of post: This is an outline for a High Priests lesson from the manual Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
Here's an interesting mystery for you to uncover: Check out the outline and research the references.

I. Joseph Smith background
a. Page 249-50 revelations on Signs of Times
A. Wars, calamities, famines
b. Page 251, 252, his teachings
B. Neigh, even at our doors!
1. Story when I was about 13 or 14 and we studied about last days – wanted to be one of the two missionaries in Jerusalem.
a. I was sure the 2nd Coming would be in my youth.
b. Now I’m why past a half-century old.
c. When will it be? If anyone says he knows – what do you know about him? Page 253
II. How far into the Last Days are we? How close to the 2nd Coming?
a. Page. 254 … the hour of His coming is nigh.”
b. When we look around for signs, what do we find?
1. Wars, famines, earthquakes
2. What new? Greenhouse effect (melting of the ice caps, which is causing changes in the ocean temperatures, currents, weather pattern changes, more severe weather, such as bigger and more often hurricanes, flooding.
i. Page 252 … seas heaving beyond their bounds”
ii. I never recognized that one before!
c. Breakdown in moral bearings, like in the times of Noah and Sodom and Gomorrah.
II. Hymn comes to mind: “We Are All Enlisted Until the Conflict is Over.”
a. When will it be over? Millennium
b. Strategy for War, Elder Durrel A. Woolsey, 1995
c. Moral Values, Absolute Values, Elder Dallin H. Oaks, 1992
d. Battling against moral decay, Pres. Spencer W. Kimball (story of camel)
e. Enemy is Combined, Elder Neal A. Maxwell, 1993
f. Time to “Let Our Voices Be heard,” Elder M. Russell Ballard, 2003
1. Proposition 8 in California – Church and its members are being “blamed” for the passage of marriage being defined as that between one man and one woman.
a. Is that fight over? Protest at temples, including in Salt Lake
Conclusion: Will we let the camel into the tent? Will we tolerate and then embrace?
Pray that will we stay absolute in our moral bearings!

From One Gone Ahead

This is a poem written by Kathy Westwood for us after we lost our baby Justin Gabriel Hunt.

From One Gone Ahead

Dear mother, I went on a trip today
to see where I should have stayed.
I stopped in to see the little white crib,
I could tell the arrangements were made.
Eager young faces of sisters and brothers,
Brightness and hope on faces of others.
I wanted to stay, to be part there and grow,
But the time’s not quite right now, I know.
For my Father has asked me, “come back for a while.”
(You’ll miss my bright face and sweet smile)
But a body was all I needed to rise
to heights yet unknown to your eyes.
Dear mom and dear dad, I love you, you see
for making a small special temple for me.
Please don’t be too sad or mourn long for me
I’m going back home to learn at His knee.
I’ll learn well and work hard and when the time’s here
I’ll join with my family, of that don’t you fear.
Tell Maya, Aiden and Rilee,
“Try to be good,” ‘cause I’m up here waitin’.

All my love at this special time,
Nancy Hunt
(Poem Written By Kathy Westwood)

A Dream Without Works is Dead, April 2008

A Dream Without Works is Dead

My father and I had just returned home from watching Merrill, my older brother by 18 months, play a junior varsity basketball game at Granger High School in the fall of 1964. At the time, I was a ninth-grader at a beautiful new junior high school named Westlake, which is located in Granger, now incorporated as West Valley City.
My ninth-grade school year was a pretty heady time for me. I was a member of the Westlake Junior High School basketball team. I had “fought my way” onto the team after many years of imaginary basketball games alone, one-on-one with Merrill, and with neighborhood friends and others who might venture by our “basketball emporium” in the driveway of our home in Granger.
Dad had put up a basketball hoop with a wood backboard on the front of the garage. Almost year-round the neighbors and Mom knew where we were because of the thud, thud, thud of a bouncing basketball on the concrete, the clang of the ball hitting the metal hoop or someone’s body slamming up against the garage door. To this day I can’t understand how that garage door withstood all the punishment and still opened and closed just fine. But more often we’d open the garage door and move the car out so we could make layups and then in one motion duck into the garage so we wouldn’t hit our heads on the wall above the opened garage door.
Dribbling the ball on the uneven, cracked and crumbling driveway was actually part of our “skills training” – if we could dribble on that mess without looking down at the ball, we could easily dribble the ball on the fine wood gym floors at school or at church. In fact, because Merrill and I had memorized every crack and every crumbling spot on the drive-way, we took advantage of the visiting players, who had to keep a close eye on the ball for fear of losing their dribble. But when they were looking at the ball, we were making a quick move at a steal.
If I wasn’t doing chores like taking out the garbage, washing the dishes, cleaning the house, weeding Mom’s roses in the front yard, weeding the garden out behind the garage and “bomb shelter,” or working at the old apartments just off the railroad tracks at 600 West and 600 North in Salt Lake, then I would be out on the drive-way practicing. Hour after hour and day after day I would practice layups and jump shots – finding the perfect spots that would reward me most often with a swish of the basketball going through the hoop.
Those years of practice were interrupted by two shoulder surgeries because I had bad shoulders. It didn’t take much for them to dislocate. Just before entering seventh grade, doctors operated on my right shoulder – taking a piece of my right upper hip and pinning the piece into my shoulder socket to help complete the socket. During the recovering, I learned how to dribble with my left hand. I also learned to make layups and shoot with my left arm.
The following summer, after the my right arm had recovered from surgery, Mom and Dad went to the Valley Vu Drive-In about a mile away from home while several of our friends came over to watch “Nightmare Theater.” It was a perfect evening! I had just dined on my favorite food at the time – stuffing down two hotdogs with mustard and a bunch of chips – while watching TV. Gene Openshaw came back from the kitchen with a second plate of food and went to sit down next to me on the couch. I put my hand out to reserve the spot (I probably was just teasing because I did that a lot), but he sat down anyway – right on my arm. My shoulder popped out of place – but this time it stayed out. That was very unusual. In fact, the doctors had always wanted to get a picture of the shoulder when it was out and even had tried once to slip it out themselves – to no avail. But this time it was out and was staying out. I was screaming bloody murder! Merrill quickly got on the phone and called the drive-in. Fortunately, that was back before movie theaters got recorded messages, so he was able to get through to someone live. They located Dad and Mom, and they rushed home. Dad carefully got me out to the car and took me to Granger Medical Center about 10 minutes away. All the while I was crying in agony – every slight bump or jar would send shockwaves of pain through my body. When we finally arrived at Granger Medical, I was given a pain shot. When the doctor arrived, he was “excited” to get some X-rays while the shoulder was still dislocated. I was wheeled into X-ray room and put on the X-ray table, which was a “ton of fun.” But by then I was getting really sick to my stomach. I told Dad I was going to throw up. He warned the doctor, so the doctor got a little throw-up bowl and put it up to the side of my mouth. Dad warned him that it wasn’t going to be big enough – but it was too late! Like a volcano, all those pieces of hotdogs, mustard and chips came roaring out of my mouth and plastered my doctor, who tried to jump back and avoid the eruption. Too late, his suit was soiled from his tie down to his pants with all the remnants of my late dinner! Dad was having a hard time not laughing, the doctor was standing there in shock – he had never seen such a yellow geyser! But I was feeling a lot better!
They took the X-rays, and then my doctor had to put the arm back in place. That really felt weird – not to mention painful! He had to literally pull on my arm and push his knee up against my side and slowly twist it back into place! When it popped back into place, I thought I was going to die! I was off the basketball court for a few weeks.
A few weeks later I was scheduled to go to Scout camp, but I was very nervous because my left shoulder wasn’t completely healed from the “geyser episode.” But I wanted the canoeing merit badge. The problem was, though, I had to pass my swimming badge requirements in the cold mountain lake with a bum left shoulder – and I hadn’t been able to pass the swimming requirements in previous attempts in a warm swimming pool out in Magna where our Scout troop went once a month.
Surgery on my left shoulder was already scheduled to take place right after the Scout camp. I decided I would try and gut it out in southern Idaho. I have no idea where it was because I was in the back of a pickup in the dark. Mr. Kershaw (the father of Merrill’s girlfriend and future wife) drove us up and back to camp. Merrill and Gene Openshaw or Bruce Sharp (I’m not sure which of the two), sat in front seat of the pickup with Mr. Kershaw and the rest of us were in the open back of the pickup with a camper shell cover over the back. Swimming was really hard on my shoulders. But if I was to do any canoeing and get a canoeing merit badge, I had to get the swimming badge first. I remember praying to my Father in Heaven to help me make the long swim and not let me drown. I remember that I took a lot longer than normal to make the swim because I did the backstroke most of the way and took my time. But I passed the requirement – actually I really shocked myself – and got to do all the canoeing I wanted, earned a canoeing merit badge and had a fun camp.
On our way home, we stopped just out of camp at a nature lake. I think Mr. Kershaw wanted to fish or check out the lake. I was doing a little exploring myself. That’s when I picked up, with my left hand, some type of bug or worm or whatever, and it bit me – or stung me or something – and I threw my arm up to get rid of it as fast as I could. That’s when I heard my left shoulder crack like it was a hard pretzel – more than just one crack. I thought I had dislocated my shoulder again – which happened way too often. It hurt like crazy – but then I was always hurting my shoulders. Merrill’s reaction was – here we go again! He was sorry – but …
I rode the rest of the way home in the back of the pickup, bouncing around and clutching my arm – trying to keep it in one place so it wouldn’t hurt more than it did.
When we got home, Dad took me to the doctors, and they X-rayed the shoulder. I had broken the shoulder socket in half and the socket had broken away from the shoulder. They were going to operate on it anyway – so they moved up the surgery right there.
They used staples to connect the socket together and connect the socket to the shoulder and then tightened up the shoulder ligaments so the shoulder didn’t have as much range but didn’t so easily come out of socket.
A few months later I was back on the basketball court. My dream was to first make the junior high basketball team and then the high school team – like Merrill. I tried to pattern my play after Jerry West of the Los Angeles Lakers and Oscar Robertson. They were incredible dribblers, shooters and team players.
I could have given up I don’t know how many times. But I loved being able to make a shot, to dribble without anyone being able to get the ball away from me, and to make the pass that won the game.
Dad had taught us from a young age how to work – and Merrill and I used that in sports. Merrill was great at all sports, but I was too frail for football, didn’t have the arm to throw a baseball very far or to bat well. In fact, when I did hit the ball, I wondered way it hurt my shoulders so much. It didn’t seem to hurt anyone else like that. But basketball was a different story. It didn’t hurt my shoulders to dribble the ball and it didn’t hurt my shoulders to shoot – unless someone blocked the shot – which I diligently tried to avoid. I felt I was a very good basketball player – especially for such a little guy.
Between the seventh and ninth grades, I grew about six inches. Finally, I was tall – I thought. In fact, I was five-feet, four and ½ inches tall.
During ninth grade, I couldn’t be in the school’s mixed chorus because it was held during the same period as a geometry class that Mom and Dad wanted me to take. I had shown an aptitude for math back in fourth grade and had progressed so that I was about a year advanced in math – and they wanted me to keep going in that area.
So, because I wasn’t in choir, I think I put my focus on making the junior high school basketball team. Plus I was in a new school, and everyone was new to the school. The drawback for me in our neighborhood was that I had attended Monroe Elementary my first six grades, then Kearns Junior High for seventh, Brockbank Junior High for eighth, and now Westlake for ninth grade – and all while living in the same house in Granger.
So I didn’t have very many friends outside of our neighborhood.
My gym coach at Westlake was Coach Newton, who was scheduled to be the head coach of the school basketball team. I thought that because he had seen me play a lot of basketball in class I probably had a good chance of making the team. I even received an “award” from Coach Newton for being the most physically fit student in all of his gym classes (he taught more than half the of gym classes). I could do more pushups, sit-ups and jumping jacks combined than any of the other guys in Coach Newton’s classes. It got to the point where I could run home from school – which was over a mile – without stopping. That was a long ways for me.
When tryouts came for basketball, I made all the cuts – except for the last one.
When I didn’t officially make the team – I decided not to give up but to talk to Coach Newton. I told him I felt I was as good as several on the team and really would do anything to be on the team. Besides, I was willing to be the last or the second to last guy on the team. He finally relented. I had worked hard, I was determined, and I was gutty enough to talk the coach into letting me be on the team.
Dad called me a “Banny rooster.” I played a total of 1½ minutes in regulation play – but I loved the excitement of the games and even just doing the warm-ups in uniform before the games. It was a chance for me to show off my dribbling skills – dribbling behind my back and doing a layout all in one motion. It actually was a real confidence booster for me in life – but still humbling because I didn’t get to play much at all.
Some time during that basketball season, Dad and I sat in the old Buick in the driveway after one of Merrill’s games. I don’t remember how we got into the discussion or why we were sitting there in the car, but Dad asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up.
My dream from the time I first watched my uncles Vivian, David and Clifford play for Bingham High School was to play basketball. So I told Dad I wanted to play professional basketball. I don’t remember if he laughed or what – but he pointed out that the chances of me making a living at playing basketball weren’t too promising. He wasn’t discouraging me from going after that dream but he suggested I think about an alternative course – or dream.
He asked me what I would do if I didn’t make it as a professional basketball player. I thought about that for a minute and then said what I thought was a very practical alternative – “I’ll be a professional singer like Mario Lanzo.”
Dad said, “Yes, you’re a really good singer, but what are the chances of you making a living as a professional singer?” I thought the chances were actually pretty good – since singing came so naturally to me.
Dad then asked me what I would do if that dream didn’t work out. I thought about that for a while and realized I really didn’t have another alternative. Maybe I could become a scientist or engineer like Vivian, David and Clifford were doing in California.
Dad then asked me what I would need to do to accomplish that. I answered that I would need to do really good in school and then graduate from college.
He said that would be a very good alternative dream if the other two don’t work out. He pointed out that I would need to work very hard in school and earn money for college because the family didn’t have any funds to send us kids to college. He said that if I would hold on to those dreams and work at them, something would work out – and that I would find a career I would enjoy.
Funny how that short talk in an old Buick with Dad that night was so right on: I didn’t make the high school basketball team – though I still think I would have been a starter at a small school like Richfield High School. The top basketball honor I received was being named to the Church Stake All-Stars team and playing in the All-star game. I remember I had a lot of fun practicing for that game and playing in the game.
I did have a lot of success singing and even made Madrigals my senior year, but my singing career ended pretty much in college.
However, Merrill’s involvement in high school athletics helped me get on as a manager on the high school football team, which led to being manager of the basketball team for all three years of high school. That and a suggestion and encouragement from an English teacher named Miss Plant led to my writing for the school paper as sports editor. And my involvement in singing and athletics and writing on the school paper I think helped me get elected as president of the Associated Lancer Men my senior year. And all of that combined reaped an academic scholarship to BYU and a scholarship to be a football manager at BYU, which led to my mission, where I served half my mission as the public relations director in the mission home.
When I returned home, minus a leg, I still had a dream and a plausible career – which led to a thirty-three year career as a copy editor and copy chief of the church’s newspaper, the Deseret News. Life has been a whirlwind – really! I suppose that’s why I remember so many things from when I was young – it seems like just yesterday!
My life moved so slowly when I was young. I wanted to grow up and get on with life. Then all of a sudden I look back and wish I hadn’t been in such a hurry and had enjoyed my younger years – and especially my family years. I think I was always looking past the mark. Now I look back and wish I had not been in such a hurry to get somewhere that I left behind so many precious times with my children – especially my boys. I fret that I didn’t teach them the principles they need to succeed in life, how to work – and enjoy the pleasure of a job well done. I worry that I set a mixed example for them. They saw the older Dad who had worked so hard for so long that he neglected the more important things in life like, for example, temple attendance.
The lessons I see from “A Dream Without Works is Dead” is that dreams are essential in our lives – even multiple dreams. But dreaming is just the blueprint, if you will, of getting something done. We have to go out and do the work – make it happen and work toward those dreams. Work as hard as possible to make them come true and then things will work out – but maybe not exactly how we thought they would.
But we can’t just dream and think it will just happen. We reap what we sow.
If we have the faith to make it happen, then work to make it happen, good things will happen – but not necessarily exactly what we might have expected. And this is in conjunction with our spiritual side – because “all things are spiritual” to our Father in Heaven.

Lee's talk on life's burdens, Oct. 22, 2006

Elder Dallin H. Oaks Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is one of my favorite general authorities. I suppose that’s partly because my personal experience with him while a student at BYU and as an editor for the school newspaper.
At the time, Elder Oaks was President Oaks, president of BYU. There was a controversy on the school paper and as editors we met with President Oaks. I don’t recall much of the details, but later when he was called to be a member of the Twelve, I wasn’t surprised – but I was excited.
It seems when he speaks, I listen that much more intently.
His talk this conference was, I felt, a rebuke of the world’s thinking and, at the same time, a warm invite to all of us who carry burdens.
He said: “Many carry heavy burdens. Some have lost a loved one to death or care for one who is disabled. Some have been wounded by divorce. Others yearn for an eternal marriage. Some are caught in the grip of addictive substances or practices like alcohol, tobacco, drugs, or pornography. Others have crippling physical or mental impairments. Some are challenged by same-gender attraction. Some have terrible feelings of depression or inadequacy. In one way or another, many are heavy laden.” (Unquote)
Often time, the world’s answers to those who have burdens are: “Oh, you poor person! Here, take some money! Or, hey, don’t worry! That’s just the way you are, enjoy! Or, let me give you some pills for that!
What’s missing!???
Elder Oaks said: “Our Savior gives this loving invitation:
"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
"For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28–30).
Can Jesus, who lived more than 2,000 years ago, really do this for us? It’s essential that we know and believe the answer to that question.
Let me tell you a little story. “Once, many, many years ago, a young missionary laboring in the topics of Costa Rica was struggling. He was doing his job every day but wanted a sign from Heaven – a sign that what he was doing was what the Lord wanted him to be doing. Just a little tap on the shoulder would do – or a little rumbling. But it didn’t happen -- not right away. So he went on, doing what he felt was right but still waiting for a sign.
Then one day, after a couple months of pain and a surgery, he was told he had bone cancer. The next day he was back in the United States. Two days later he was lying in a hospital bed, and the doctors informed him that they would have to amputate his leg or he would surely die.
This was back in ancient times – before chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
Many family and friends wondered: “What did this missionary do that he has come home and must have his leg amputated? Why was this young man burdened with such a heavy load?
But that night, in the dark, the young missionary prayed to the Lord not about why – but about his future.
“Lord, there’s a lot I still want to do. I want to find someone and get married! I want to have children and see them grow up. There’s a lot of life I’d like live. It’s OK, I can handle not being able to play basketball – I think. But please help me recover and go on with my life – even if it’s without the leg.”
After praying and pleading and praying and crying – he felt a warm, peaceful feeling come over him. A feeling for which he had been aching – not just that night but for a long time. A feeling that the Lord is there, he does love us and he hears our prayers.”
Soon after the surgery, Elder Delbert L. Stapley of the Quorum of the Twelve visited him in the hospital and gave him a blessing. A very different blessing from the ones we normally hear. Elder Stapley first talked with the Lord and told the Lord about the young man’s situation.
Then Elder Stapley blessed that young missionary. He commanded that if there was any cancer remaining in the body that it would leave. He promised the young man that he would be healed from the cancer.
The blessing was a final answer to his prayers. No longer was he worried about the outcome. In fact, the nurses and doctors thought it a bit strange that he was handling the ordeal so easily.
But he knew something the world didn’t know – the Lord was with him and had answered his prayers.
Still, he had a burden – one that could never be taken away, but that burden was made light – by the power of Jesus Christ.
How did our Father in Heaven do in fulfilling his promise to that young missionary? Well, within months he started school at BYU and graduated within three years, he was hired by the Deseret News and has been with the newspaper for 33 years. He married a beautiful young woman who has helped him carry his burden and together they have five beautiful children and four grandchildren and two identical twin girls coming soon. Thirty-six years of a blessing fulfilled.
The loss of his leg really has not been his biggest challenge in life – but only one of them. There have been and are greater ones. But he does look forward to the resurrection and the day he can once again play some basketball.
But that’s only one of the burdens we might be laden with – and Jesus has promised that if we turn to him he will make us whole – whether in this life or in the next, it does not matter.
Elder Oaks said: “The Savior teaches that we will have tribulation in the world, but we should "be of good cheer" because He has "overcome the world" (John 16:33). His Atonement reaches and is powerful enough not only to pay the price for sin but also to heal every mortal affliction.
The Book of Mormon teaches that "He shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people" (Alma 7:11; see also 2 Nephi 9:21).
He knows of our anguish, and He is there for us. Like the Good Samaritan in His parable, when He finds us wounded at the wayside, He binds up our wounds and cares for us (see Luke 10:34).
Brothers and sisters, the healing power of His Atonement is for you, for us, for all.
His all-encompassing healing power is sought in the prayerful words of our hymn "Master, the Tempest Is Raging":
Master, with anguish of spirit
I bow in my grief today.
The depths of my sad heart are troubled.
Oh, waken and save, I pray!
Torrents of sin and of anguish
Sweep o'er my sinking soul,
And I perish! I perish! Dear Master.
Oh, hasten and take control! (Hymns, no. 105)
To all of us who suffer an affliction or burden, it doesn’t matter why we have that affliction, what matters is how we handle it – how we go forward despite it.
Elder Oaks said, “When the Apostle Paul sought to be healed from the "thorn in the flesh" that buffeted him, the Lord declined to heal him. The Lord explained, "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness." Paul obediently responded that he would "rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me . . . for when I am weak, then am I strong" (vv. 9–10).
“Healing blessings come in many ways, each suited to our individual needs, as known to Him who loves us best. Sometimes a "healing" cures our illness or lifts our burden. But sometimes we are "healed" by being given strength or understanding or patience to bear the burdens placed upon us.
“The people who followed Alma were in bondage to wicked oppressors. When they prayed for relief, the Lord told them He would deliver them eventually, but in the meantime He would ease their burdens "that even you cannot feel them upon your backs. In that case the people did not have their burdens removed, but the Lord strengthened them so that "they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord" (v. 15).
Elder Oaks continued: “This same promise and effect applies to you mothers who are widowed or divorced, to you singles who are lonely, to you caregivers who are burdened, to you persons who are addicted, and to all of us whatever our burden. "Come unto Christ," the prophet says, "and be perfected in him" (Moroni 10:32).
“At times we may despair that our burdens are too great. When it seems that a tempest is raging in our lives, we may feel abandoned and cry out like the disciples in the storm, "Master, carest thou not that we perish?" (Mark 4:38). At such times we should remember His reply:
"Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?"
“The healing power of the Lord Jesus Christ—whether it removes our burdens or strengthens us to endure and live with them like the Apostle Paul—is available for every affliction in mortality.” (Unquote)
The world too often says to those caught in addictive immoral habits and behavior that we cannot change the way we are. That’s what the Devil wants us to think. It is not true.
We can change, it’s called repentance.
Elder Oaks said: “After I gave a general conference talk on the evils of pornography (see "Pornography," Liahona and Ensign, May 2005, 87–90), I received many letters from persons burdened with this addiction. Some of these letters were from men who had overcome pornography. One man wrote:
"There are several lessons I've gleaned from my experience coming out of the darkness of a sin that so thoroughly dominates the lives of the people it ensnares: (1) This is a major problem that is unbelievably difficult to overcome. . . . (2) The most important source of support and strength in the repentance process is the Savior. . . . (3) Intense, daily scripture study, regular temple worship, and serious, contemplative participation in the ordinance of the sacrament are all indispensable parts of a true repentance process. This, I assume, is because all of these activities serve to deepen and strengthen one's relationship with the Savior, one's understanding of His atoning sacrifice, and one's faith in His healing power" (letter dated Oct. 24, 2005).
"Come unto me," the Savior said, "and ye shall find rest unto your souls" (Matthew 11:28–29). That heavy-laden man turned to the Savior, and so can each of us.
Elder Oaks quoted one man you overcame same-gender attraction burder who said: "Some profess that change is possible and therapy is the only answer. They are very learned on the subject and have so much to offer those who struggle . . . , but I worry that they forget to involve Heavenly Father in the process. If change is to happen, it will happen according to the will of God. I also worry that many people focus on the causes of [same-gender attraction]. . . .
There is no need to determine why I have [this challenge]. I don't know if I was born with it, or if environmental factors contributed to it. The fact of the matter is that I have this struggle in my life and what I do with it from this point forward is what matters" (letter dated Mar. 25, 2006).
The persons who wrote these letters know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the healing it offers do much more than provide the opportunity for repentance from sins. The Atonement also gives us the strength to endure "pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind," because our Savior also took upon Him "the pains and the sicknesses of his people.”
In closing, I quote Elder Oaks: “As we struggle with the challenges of mortality, I pray for each of us, as the prophet Mormon prayed for his son, Moroni: ‘May Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, . . . and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever.`”
I am eternally grateful for Christ’s Atonement and for the Lord’s help in carrying my burdens. I look forward to resurrection and pray that I will use the gift of repentance so I can prepare to happily meet my Father in Heaven again.

Our 'Slot' is a headliner on several stages, 2000

I saved this article written by a co-copy editor, Steve Warren. He did a great job and really made his boss happy!

OUR ‘SLOT’ IS A HEADLINER ON SEVERAL STAGES

By Steve Warren
Deseret News staff writer© 2000 Deseret News Publishing Co.
Some people never find a niche in life that suits them. W. Lee Hunt doesn't have that problem. In 1983, he found his niche -actually, it's called a slot – as chief copy editor at the Deseret News.
The "slot" is a person who sits in the vertex of a U-shaped arrangement ofcomputer workstations occupied by up to seven copy editors. Afterindividual copy editors edit a story and write a headline, the slot either OKs the story and sends it along for final preprint positioning on a page or returns it to the copy editor with suggested changes. All the while, he keeps an eye on page deadlines. It's no place for shrinking violets, and it suits Hunt fine.
"I enjoy being in the middle of all the news, the hot, breaking stuff."
When he came to the Deseret News fresh out of BYU in 1974, Hunt didn'thave a clue that he'd wind up within a few months on the copy desk.
"I thought of myself as a writer or reporter. I had no experience at all in copy editing. It was a real challenge," he recalls. His first months as a copy editor were so inauspicious that he saw the handwriting on the wall (but not the misspellings and grammatical problems in that handwriting) and promptly enrolled in basic English classes through community education.
One headline that got him in hot water with the managing editor at the timewas: "Vietnam hoard flees Cong."
It's a mistake he's had a "horde" time forgetting.
Although Hunt no longer finds the nuances of copy editing a mystery, his life isn't short on mystery - not by a long shot. That's because he's the founder and proprietor of Hunt Mystery & Company, which produces dinner-theater programs wherein actors stage a murder mystery and the audience tries to solve it by questioning the performers, or"suspects."
Hunt Mystery & Company began in 1991. Early that year, Hunt, his wife Nancy, and children Heather, Lena, Jason, Jared and Nathan discussed ways to earn money for a trip to California. Before long, the children were selling Valentine's candy, cookies, pizza and pies.
At that time, Hunt had already written three murder mysteries but had staged them only on family occasions and at parties. Spurred on both by the importunings of friends to go public and by the desire to fund theCalifornia trip, Hunt hired actors and staged a production at a local resort - and they've been doing them ever since. In 1994, the company put on 49 shows. [In 2001, the company stage close to 100 shows.]
[Hunt Mystery stages public shows about twice a month at various locations.] … Other bookings include conventions and private and employee parties.
Hunt leaves the acting to professionals (each presentation features six to eight acting roles), but he continues to write most of the scripts and lines up shows. Family members help by setting up the programs and in handling lighting and sound.
When he's not on the job as copy chief or involved in a dinner theater, Hunt finds time to change the landscape of West Jordan. [Hunt was] …chairman of the West Jordan Urban Forest Committee and spearheaded efforts that have resulted in the planting of hundreds of trees around the city…..His appointment as chairman stemmed from his part in organizing tree plantings at a neighborhood park.
"The city saw my interest in trees, and the mayor came calling."
Even though Hunt enjoys adding green to the West Jordan landscape, he points out that his real color is "true-blue BYU."
Whenever the Cougars play, he tries to be near a TV -- or at the game, when possible. He does not, however, belong to the fanatic - some would say frothing, lunatic - fringe in the BYU-University of Utah rivalry that hopes for its team to win every game and for its chief rival always to lose. "I cheer for Utah whenever they're not playing BYU," he said. A word of warning to first-time visitors at the Hunt home. Near the front door, a plaque reads: The Hunt's. Alert souls will notice that the apostrophe in Hunt's is in the wrong place. But don't be tempted to say,"Aha, someone who claims to know grammar but who puts apostrophes in the wrong place doesn't have a leg to stand on."
First, Hunt always has a leg to stand on, sometimes two. (He has a prosthetic limb.) And second, "That (the plaque) was a gift," he emphasizes.
Spoken like a true copy editor.

Poem by Jared Hunt when teen-ager

Hey, Jared! I found this poem!
I hope it's OK if I blog it! Do you remember when you wrote it?
JUST A SIMPLE HELLO
Well it’s that time of the day again
Where I am in deep thought,
No one else is there around
To feel the feelings wrought;
I think of many different things
Too much to fill this space,
But, when it is I think of you
There always is a place.
Just like a cool refreshing rain
You wash away the gloom,
Just like the warm spring time rays
You bring forth the flowers bloom;
I really enjoy my time with you …
Just thought you would like to know,
So, that is why I wrote this poem
Just a simple, “Hello.”

Nate and I talk religion and sci-fi June 14, 2009

I had a nice visit with Nate over instant messaging, which ended up using some of the things I had discussed in my High Priest lesson earlier in the day. I enjoyed the sci-fi part of the discussion, too!
Here's the exchange (Don't get too mad, Nate):
Lee says:
boo-hoo! Orlando Magic lost the championship to Lakers!
Nate says:
did they really? lol that funny
Lee says:
Jared asked if I thought you would be watching! Not when he's in a house with non-basketball fanatics!
Lee says:
I just finished Eldest!
Lee says:
Last night!
Nate says:
this is very true! i tried watching the Jazz games, but they thought it was weird when they saw me
Lee says:
Who's weird, huh!
Nate says:
i know, they were just surprised when they saw
Lee says:
Basketball is learning skills, practicing to make perfect, learning team skills! Nothing better than sports for many of those skills!
Lee says:
Did you see my note on Eldest?
Nate says:
no i didnt know you posted anything
Nate says:
did you listen to it all?
Lee says:
All this time I never realized what it said on the jacket. I thought it was some wierd word of a dragon or something and it was just the way it was designed! Eldest as in Eregon's older brother!
Lee says:
Yup!
Lee says:
Finished last night!
Lee says:
You're not paying attention to me!! Are you playing a game or watching TV?
Nate says:
sorry

You have just sent a nudge.

Nate says:
just settling in after getting home from work

You have just sent a nudge.

Lee says:
hey!

You may not send a nudge that often.

Nate says:
im here
Lee says:
I said I finished it last night!
Nate says:
ya i have listened to the 3rd book like 2 1/2 times now
Nate says:
so when do you listen to it?
Lee says:
Mostly on the trip to the Redwoods, then when I could out on the patio while mom watched TV.
Nate says:
ahh
Lee says:
I'm not happy about the idea of it going more than 3 books!
Nate says:
no way why?
Lee says:
I want to get it over in three and kill the king, save Kristina and marry Aireal.
Lee says:
I can't think of any series that has held true and top notch for more than 3.
Lee says:
Mom's helping Jared move things into his apartment in building 14 next to our building 13.
Nate says:
the names are katrina and arya
Lee says:
Good! I didn't read the books.
Nate says:
lol i knew what you were talking about
Lee says:
I kept spelling his name Aregon.
Nate says:
i really liked this 3rd book!
Lee says:
did you read it or listen to it?
Nate says:
i really hope the 4th one is good too
Nate says:
listen
Lee says:
Oh!!!!!
Lee says:
Father's Day is coming up next week!!!!!!
Nate says:

Lee says:
You better talk to Mom about it! Hint hint!
Nate says:
lol will do
Lee says:
did you see that message about mom and jared.
Nate says:
ya i did.
Lee says:
Funny, huh!
Lee says:
Why do you think he did it?
Nate says:
i dont know,
Lee says:
have you talked to him about his moving?
Nate says:
like why did he move so close or why did he move out?
Lee says:
both?
Nate says:
no i dont think i have
Nate says:
i cant remember
Lee says:
He's more likely to tell you than me I'm afraid.
Nate says:
ya, i think he was going to tell me and then somthing came up and he forgot
Nate says:
i need to talk to him
Nate says:
i havent really talked to him in a while
Lee says:
Let me ask you a question from my lesson in High Priest class today: If a good man dies like in India but has never heard of Jesus or his teachings, is he doomed to hell or can he make the Celestial kingdom?
Nate says:
i think so, absolutely.
Lee says:
How many churches do you think teach that he can rise to live with his Father in Heaven?
Nate says:
psh i have no clue im sure not many if any
Nate says:
they all seem more of a here and now
Nate says:
kind of thing
Lee says:
How can it happen if even Jesus said that he is the only way to his Father and that everyone who wants to get there must first be Baptized?
Lee says:
There is only one!
Lee says:
There are two key factors that that one church teaches that no other church teaches or even accepts and they actually condemn.
Lee says:
What do you think Grandma Stanger is doing right now in heaven?
Lee says:
Playing a harp -- or organ -- or what? What was the last major thing she wanted to do but couldn't because of her health?
Nate says:
she wanted to go on a mission didnt she
Lee says:
Yes! So she now is probably on a mission teaching all those people who never heard of Jesus. Why?
Lee says:
Come on, Nate, stay with me a bit longer!
Nate says:
ya sorry jared called me, why not? if they never had a chance on earth then how is that there fault. i think that if god is the way that we were taught then he would at least give them a chance
Lee says:
Are you there? Why would she be spending her time teaching people who have already died about Jesus?
Lee says:
Exactly! A chance at what? Can Christ's atonement have claim even on them in “spirit prison” so that they can repent even though they are dead?
Lee says:
this is all why we have baptism for the dead
Lee says:
That's what it's all about. We're the only church that has that principal, even though Paul talked about it as if it was common knowledge among the first Christians.
Nate says:
so how does the baptism for the dead work?
Lee says:
So if they repent, then they will need baptism, which must be done for them. But if they don't repent and we do a baptism for the dead for them, then it doesn't mean anything for them.
Lee says:
And if they need baptism, then they will need all the other work to be done. That's why we have temples and why we'll have a millennium (1,000) to get all the work done.
Lee says:
And that's why our church is so different!
Nate says:
so we do a baptism for the dead no matter what?
Lee says:
We don't limit God's blessings to just our members but to all our spirit brothers and sisters who now live and who have ever lived.
Nate says:
I don’t get that part
Lee says:
Yup! Say we baptize a person that killed someone 100 years ago. But if he had the law he may never had done it. Then Grandma teaches him about the gospel, he realizes how bad it was and embraces Jesus and his plan and repents. Then he will be waiting for his baptism so he can claim what glory he deserves, whether it be the highest glory or the middle glory or the glory of the stars.
Lee says:
God promised every one of his children they would resurrect with a body and that they would at some point receive what I call a perfect missionary experience. That's what Grandma's doing. Lee says:
Don't you think that Ghandi, a Hindu, who embraced all good in religions, would love to hear the Gospel from Grandma?
Nate says:
ahh ok so they baptize everyone. That way if they do repent then they have that already
Lee says:
Yup! And we do the temple work of sealing families together for the same reason.
Lee says:
You are sealed to us, too!
Lee says:
That's why Pres. Hinckley pushed building temples. When Christ comes again, Temple work will be as important as missionary work because they go hand in hand in relationship to Eternal LIfe -- which is the kind of Life that God lives!
Lee says:
OK, one more question! What kind of life does God offer to his children – the kind of life that he lives?
Lee says:
No, they don't sit around and sing hymns all day! Can you imagine him announcing:
Lee says:
"First we'll open today's session by singing hymns No. 100 - 500!"
Lee says:
There isn't a church in the world that has a clue what we'll do other than we'll be happy -- and no pain.
Lee says:
The Hindus believe we'll spend a glorious time in heaven and then be reincarnated as some form of animal or such.
Lee says:
God said his work and his glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
Lee says:
His plan is one eternal round!
Lee says:
So, have you gone to sLeep?
Nate says:
lol no
Lee says:
So, I need some feedback on those comments and question above.
Nate says:
lol what is there to say. i have no idea what it is going to be like.
Lee says:
OK, one more question! What kind of life does God offer his children, the kind of life that he lives?
Lee says:
Give it a shot! Every parent wants the same for his/her children!
Nate says:
yes. he said that if we get to his kindom that we would be able to be like him
Lee says:
God says over and over in the scriptures he wants to give ... yup!
Lee says:
So if we are like him, what would we be able to do or have?
Lee says:
This is where we also differ greatly from other churches -- not the scriptures.
Nate says:
make planets like he has and have childen like he has
Lee says:
Hey, you ain't too dump! Grandma taught you something!
Lee says:
So if God is perfect, then how can he still progress or become greater like it says in the scriptures?
Nate says:
from his children
Lee says:
Through, yup, the success of his children.
Nate says:
the whole thing of being able to make other planets and stuff always confused me
Lee says:
If they become like him and have spiritual children and create other worlds, then his glory and dominion grows through his children!
Nate says:
is it like in some other dimensions type of thing or is it all just in one cosmic universe?
Nate says:
and also if space is infinite, then the % chance that there is a planet like ours is a possibility
Lee says:
Einstein was considered one of the smartest men to have ever lived and used only a small part of his brain, though a little more than we do. If a man were perfect or had a perfect body and a perfect brain, what could he do, what would he know? He might know all the laws and how to use them to do everything – maybe even including building worlds. Maybe God is truly a Perfect Man!
Lee says:
Absolutely for sure! That's why I love science fiction -- there are planets out there just like ours with children of our Father in Heaven. Now we're really out there! What we need to do is worry about ourselves. But the point is, there are answers to life's questions -- and you won't find very many questions under a rock!
Lee says:
Our church was teaching about worlds without end long before scientists even had a glimpse that there really might be other planets. Now they are virtually sure.
Nate says:
Soo
Lee says:
I'm sure there is another dimension -- it's called spiritual. That's one. Then there's the other for glorified beings. They may be around us, but we are not alone. We try to think we are when we're trying to hide.
Nate says:
so do you think that he ends a planet before they can go too far in space and that’s why we would not meet anyone from other planets?
Lee says:
There is a veil so we don't see -- but at times that veil is separated and some see angels and glorified beings. Like in Kirtland.
Lee says:
Do you mean ends the work on one planet before they meet others from another?
Lee says:
Possibly. Maybe that's the second coming.
Nate says:
ya like the second coming end
Nate says:
ya exactly
Lee says:
2nd coming isn't the end. It's just the start of the millennium and then eventually the glorification of even the world itself.
Lee says:
Have you seen Nicolas Cage's Knowing?
Lee says:
It has a provocative ending that probably most people think is pretty lame. But I loved it.
Nate says:
because i mean if one planet lived long enough, then we would be able to live among the stars like in science fiction movies and books and then we would eventually meet another planet like our own. But do you think that they have the second comings to stop that kind of thing. Like they don’t have the second coming just for that reason but it is part of the plan?
Nate says:
no i never saw it
Lee says:
You need to rent it and write what you think the ending has to do with the religion and life on our planet.
Lee says:
It's possible that's when the 2nd coming is, but it's more likely that the world gets so corrupt and so good at the same time that it is time. No man knows, the scriptures say, when he will come. But I think we will travel by Instantaneous Molecular Transportation.
Lee says:
or at least the angels and glorified beings do. That's just a thought!
Nate says:
hmm very interesting
Lee says:
So what my children do has meaning to me and my Father in Heaven, their spirit Father.
Lee says:
I know I will resurrect. That I have no doubt of.
Lee says:
What I fear is having come up short of what I should have done.
Lee says:
So ponder these things in your heart and find your way in this weird world.
Lee says:
YOu better hit the sack -- you have work tomorrow!
Nate says:
this is true
Nate says:
Alright, I’ll talk to you later then
Nate says:
gnight
Lee says:
Rent Knowing!
Lee says:
night!
Nate says:
night night