Top Five: Favorite Ancestors

Mostly ones that passed on before I came along. I have a fascination with ancestors that were among the first of their lines to join the church--four of the five here meet that criteria.

5. William Marks Miles, 1828-1897. Just six when his family joined the church in Freedom, NY. His father recently dead, he was bartending and figuring whether to go west with his family and the saints. Saw a dove flying west, took that as a sign, and the rest is history. I've wondered how he felt having his uncle William Marks' name. WM rose to prominence in the early church, was Nauvoo Stake President, but was against polygamy, didn't join the trek to the west, and during WMM's life, his uncle's name was a hiss and a byword in Utah. Third great grandfather, mother's side.

4. Abram Hatch, 1861-1957. I'm named for him (middle name), and remember meeting him just once, shortly before he died. Shrunken sick man in a bed, an unfortunate memory for such a vibrant man. His mother died when he was just eight, and he was raised by other relatives. A real cowboy, ran mail, killed a cougar that was leaping at him. Inactive and a smoker, he was a trail guide for a visiting mission president (Spencer W. Kimball's father Andrew) and was promised if he wanted it, he would lose all desire for tobacco. Most of his life after, he was a great contributor to the ward he lived in. Like WMM above, he helped settle Moreland, Idaho. Second great-grandfather, mother's side.

3. William Butler, 1825-1905. Left Ireland as a young man, some say under duress because of a debt. Found himself with some Mormons heading west and joined the church. Successful in life, had a fiery disposition that appears to have alienated many. His polygamous wife (our ancestor) Ellen Close Butler was attacked by a railroad worker in 1869 with an axe. William tracked down the man and killed him, thinking his wife was dead, then returned and gave her a blessing the next day that knit together her shattered head. Turned himself into the sherriff, who said go home, you've done nothing wrong. Different times. Third great-grandfather, mother's side.

2. Mary Ross Henderson, 1823-1896. Scottish, noted for her forthrightness. For example, she liked the spirit of the Mormon missionaries, but her husband Robert forbade her to be in the same room with them. So she and a friend went to their meetings and stood outside an open window. She and Robert joined the church, and came west in 1863. Some men in their wagon train didn't want to follow the wagon leaders's admonition to cross the river once more that day, so she tied up her skirts and led their wagon across. The shamefaced men followed suit. Late in life she read her first novel, and told her daughter "Ah Mary, 'tis better than the Bible!" Third great-grandmother, mother's side.



1. Richard Steele, 1818-1881. Joined the church as a young man in Stoke on Trent, England. Served a two year mission in England and Wales before emigrating to the US. Potter, farmer, proponent of literacy, tenor. I know him and love him best because he left a journal of the key years after he joined the LDS church. I'm still impressed with the time he met with his former Wesleyan Chapel minister and forthrightly defended Mormon doctrine. He told the man, "I was not going to believe him or anyone else before the word of God. For said I, I was for having God true though all men were found liars. Then said he, "You was not so bold when you was amongst the Wesleyans." Third great-grandfather, father's side.

Top Five: Doh--what about the world tour!

After getting all the vacations down that were my top five, my wife asked, "What about the round the world trip we took in 1985?" Oh yeah--a once in a lifetime venture for sure! So here are the top five things we experienced on that trip--me, Peggy, Sam, Afton, and Kevin. We started off from Saudi Arabia, visiting these places:

5. Hong Kong. Skyscrapers, ferries, the tram to Victoria Peak, the Chinese Carnival, being the only Americans at the Nathan Hotel, buying a new wedding ring (sapphires!) for Peggy and a new-fangled video camera to record all of our fabulous trip! Whole lot of people milling around--to keep our kids (8, 7, and 6) safe when we were walking, I'd be in the front, the kids in single file behind me, and Peggy at the end, making sure no ducklings get lost!

4. New Zealand. We rented a motor home and toured the northern half of North Island. The New Zealand temple (where we broke the new video camera...), Rotorua crafts and geysers, caves, sheep galore, a series of KOA type campgrounds, visiting our friends the Middletons from our years in Samoa. What a great, green country!

3. Samoa. Got there just in time (after a day's stopover in Fiji) for the annual Independence Celebration, and got to show Sam and Afton a little of their heritage. Interesting to see old haunts from a seven-years-later perspective. We enjoyed nights at Aggie Grey's and the Tusitala.

2. Hawaii. My parents were sponsoring an extended Steele family reunion, to mark my dad's retirement, so we went to Hawaii for that. Polynesian Cultural Center, condos at Turtle Bay, the beach, tour of the island, family times, and the highlight of baptizing Sam, Tom2, and Jeff in the ocean just down from the Laie temple.


1. Salt Lake City. During the reunion, my Grandpa Eral Henderson died, so at the end of the reunion everyone flew to Salt Lake and attended his funeral. Grandma Ruby Henderson had not told us till the end of the reunion, so as not to spoil our time together.


And then we flew back home to Saudi Arabia via Europe. Niiiice trip!

Top Five: Vacations

5. Cross Country to New York, 1965. My parents, brother Tom, and I drove from LA to NY to pick up my oldest brother Dick from his mission in New York. I was 14, and it is the first big road trip I remember going on. The mountains in Wyoming, historical sites like the Abraham Lincoln site in Springfield, the NY world's fair, the Cumorah Pageant, and an unending parade of Best Western's are all highlights from the trip. And my brother's dry commentary all the way out and back. We went in a station wagon, so I spent a good portion of the trip lying out in the back--this was pre seat belt era.

4. Cyprus, 1986. One of our vacations while living in Saudi Arabia. Peggy and Afton were in the US attending Kelly and Julia's wedding, so during an Eid break Sam, Kevin, and I took the short jaunt over to Cyprus. I'd checked in advance and found there were two member families in the whole island. We contacted them both and got together for a Sacrament meeting, the first one in several years there. And the one family, headed by a British peacekeepng soldier, had me teach the missionary lessons to a friend. Too bad I couldn't baptize her, but hope it took later. Beautiful beaches and mountains, fascinating castles and layers of Greek, biblical, Crusader, and Islamic history, tinge of excitement from the political division of the island, all contributed to a great time.

3. Boston/DC, 1998. With Peggy, Shelly, and Dallin. Historical sites galore in hot District of Columbia, Revolutionary sites around Boston, family history and Woods Hole visits in southern MA, and the highlight for me to the Plimoth Plantation, an open air reconstruction of the Plymouth Rock colony, where our Hatch ancestor first came. I loved how the people were trained to be specific inhabitants of 17th century Plymouth. Willing suspension of disbelief brought me quickly to talking with them as if they were residents of a foreign country, not actors. When can I go again?

2. Thailand, 1982. Peggy and I went alone, our first vacation during Saudi Arabian time. Left the three older kids with neighbors (the Alvarez family). Floating market, Buddhist temples, tuk tuks, open markets, LDS chapel, Nana Hotel, train ride down to Hua Hin, cold showers in the cheap rooms at the Railway Inn. Chicken satay from roadside vendors, all so exotic and luxurious to be on our own for the first time in five years.


1. Germany, 1982, 1986, 2007. A collage of three trips, and includes neighboring countries like Benelux, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, and the Czech Republic. American cemetery in Luxembourg, Tivoli garden and Legoland in Denmark, Anne Frank house in Amsterdam, stake conference in Berlin with Elder Wirthlin, Neuschwanstein castle, mission cities and people like Sister Specht, Afton's baptism in the Bern temple, Kevin's injury to his arm, Interlaken! and the Swiss Alps, the lion at Lucerne, Bodies exhibit in Prague, battling porn in the Munich airport, Oktoberfest. Aaaaahhh, wunderbar!

So, what's your favorite trip?

Top Five: Missing a Flight

On the return from a recent business trip to Ireland and the UK, I had a connecting flight to get me to the nonstop Paris-SLC flight (with a 90-minute layover), but Icame perilously close to missing the flight back to Salt Lake. Here are the five steps that nearly got me cooling my heels in the Paris airport:

5. Set up the world's worst check in system for Heathrow airport. Multiple lines, one so massive it snaked back into the next room, with no instructions why you'd go in one line or the other. Incomprehensible check in kiosks. One person out front to guide 200 people wanting to check in. Looked like the worst third world airport I've ever been in. So in the best third world tradition, I insinuated myself into the forward part of the line and got to my gate in time. Only to find...

4. Delay the connecting flight because of fog. The departure of our London-Paris flight was delayed 50 minutes because there was fog at Charles deGaulle airport. Really--planes can't land because of fog? I suppose they stop flights when it gets dark too? Add 50 minutes.

3. Have air traffic control mess up the landing. We were on final approach to Charles deGaulle when the plane suddenly accelerated and continued past the airport. Apparently the plane in front of us hadn't cleared the runway, so we had to loop around and get back in line. Add 10 minutes.

2. Put the ongoing flight at the opposite end of the airport from the incoming flight. We came in at the far left of the long terminal, the ongoing flight was at the far right. Moving sidewalks helped, but I'm not in shape for jogging with suitcases. Add 10 minutes.

1. Ensure the security machines break while you're in line. Got two lines shot out from under me. In desperation, asked for and finally got an ok to you the first class security line, which had nobody in it. Add 20 minutes. Whoops, time's up!

0. Be the last one admitted on the plane by anxious check in crew as you huff and puff up to the departure gate. Aaaaahhhh, made it! (OK, adding zero

is cheating, but it is my blog...)

Top Five: Ice Cream Flavors

5. Alafua College Mango. When we lived in Samoa, the local agricultural college had an ice cream making facility. We'd buy half gallons of a few different flavors. My favorite was the mango, creamy and infused with local mangoes.

4. Italienischer Eis. Italian ice cream, all kinds of flavors served in small stores in Germany. Maddeningly small portions, but only one Deutschmark, and refreshingly cool after a hot day of tracting. The texture was somewhere between US ice cream and sherbert. OK, I didn't exactly choose a flavor, but it's my list.

3. Pistachio Cashew. A green ice cream, never could tell how the flavor related to pistachios, loaded with chunks of cashews. This is a childhood favorite, found in Thrifty Drug Stores, vanilla 59 cents a half gallon, all other flavors 69 cents. I've seen this flavor in recent times, but it's always the cheaper pistachio peanut...

2. Philadelphia style Vanilla. This is the vanilla ice cream with little flecks of real vanilla bean. Seems to have a deeper flavor, and all those bean flecks have got to be good for you, right?


1. Rocky Road. Has to be the kind with chocolate ice cream, nuts, and marshmallow chunks. Make Dad happy and get him real Rocky Road! And no wimpy small bowls either!

What's your favorite?

Top Five: Latter-day Prophets

5. Heber J. Grant. He makes the top five for one talk he gave, teaching about perseverance and combating the lies that Satan uses to keep us from our potential. President Grant mentioned how he was in debt over $100,000 (an even more enormous sum in the early 20th century), and felt inspired to admit his debt over the pulpit, and proclaim he would have the debt settled within a year. When he sat down, a voice said to him, "You lie, you lie." He knew it was Satan trying to undercut the spirit of revelation. He persevered, and sure enough he was out of debt within a year.

4. Brigham Young. Man of the hour--actually, man of the three decades--when Joseph and Hyrum Smith were murdered, and the church could easily have faded into obscurity. I love him for his drive and for his devotion. As with any strong leader in a crisis, he did plenty of things that draw lightning, irritating many. And some of his views, perhaps prejudices, threaten to overwhelm the good he did, seen from the 21st century. But without his strong leadership, Mormonism would not be a force in people's lives today.

3. Gordon B. Hinckley and David O. McKay. Okay, it's cheating to have two, but I couldn't decide. President Hinckley is the only prophet I've shaken hands with and talked to one on one, as he visited my mission in Germany in 1971 and I had an interview with him. And President McKay was the prophet of my youth--set apart a month before I was born, died when I was a freshman in college. I remember listening to general priesthood meeting in our stake center, and as a deacon or teacher being bored and unattentive, but then President McKay would speak, and there was a difference somehow--an early intimation of the uniqueness of prophets. Their devotion to principle and positive demeanors both did much in their day to present the church in a good light to the world at large--a difficult thing to accomplish.

2. Joseph Smith. The blender approach taken for the church's priesthood/Relief Society study manuals--taking snippets and organizing them into lesson topics--has the unfortunate side effect of making it almost impossible to tell one prophet from another. But not Joseph Smith, his unique voice comes through unmistakably loud and clear. To take the restoration on from your youth, to fight against unremitting enmity from the people around you, to create so much--it's impossible to comprehend how he did it. He should be #1, but I wasn't around when he was, so it puts him at a little distance. So, my number 1 is



1. Spencer W. Kimball. As I entered adulthood, the one thing that concerned me about latter-day prophets was that most of them after Joseph and Brigham seemed to be administrators first and foremost. No new doctrine, just mostly administrivia--where should we put a new stake, should we emphasize missionary work or the Book of Mormon, and so on. Not President Kimball. There were big administrative deals, like the new version of the scriptures, and the reconstitution of the general Quorums of Seventy. But President Kimball went much further. He proposed new scripture (D&C 137-138) to expand our understanding of temple work. In perhaps his crowning achievement, he bucked history and drew the revelation extending the priesthood to all worthy males from God. Without his surprising drive to seek and implement this revelation, who knows how many more years or decades would have gone by with the church still hobbled by racism.

So I love President Kimball for being the most prophet-like of all the prophets in my lifetime. One more example: I admit I was getting tired of the apparent mundaneness of many of his messages: paint your barn, lengthen your stride, don't kill birds for sport, etc. Then suddenly one conference he talked about how little we knew about God's knowledge, for example, what exactly did it take to resurrect a person? I never assumed again that his was a limited mind. God bless him, and God bless all our latter-day prophets.

Who's your number one?