End of summer pics

At the young men campout JT discovered he loves fishing

I painted our family room wall

I had a birthday

Bananaphones are not dead!

Elder Watson's Letters - June-Aug

We have been greatly blessed that Hyrum is a faithful writer AND caller. Most every week since his departure, we have had at least an hour to spend on the phone or video with him. And first thing in the morning there is an email to his wide acquaintanceships around the world with some of the most creative and energetic titles and introductions. Among his favorite non-proselyting activities are eating Taco Bell and shopping Goodwill. Here are a few of his experiences and pictures from June-Aug.

A Goodwill success for a former
Stephenville Yellow Jacket

June 20 [TX] - “On Friday, I went proselyting with the local missionaries, and we made a new friend named B____. Now, I must point out that the missionaries I went with are English speaking missionaries. So I was quite confused when they drove into the trailer park where the Spanish missionaries get most of their work done. We went to talk to someone, and sure enough, they only spoke Spanish. So they handed the contact over to me, the missionary who had just began training. I stumbled over some words about prophets and the Book of Mormon ... So my first ever contact was in Spanish I'm never letting Elders Carpenter and Atuaia forget that one.”

In that letter, he also shared his surprise when Elder David A Bednar, an apostle, stopped into his district's classroom at the MTC for an hour of Q&A! His reaction was aspiratonal and inspirational: “As Elder Watson, it my fondest wish to teach with that kind of power and clarity. It is amazing to think that both of us are set apart servants of the Lord, full time witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ.” The next week in the Provo MTC, after he spent a lot of time in the temple he said: “As I travel in Pittsburgh, I'm going to try to see every person for their eternal, glorious, potential. There really are no ordinary people, and I want to help as many as I can to feel how loved they really are.”

His MTC district

He arrived in his mission and his first assignment was to southern NY/northern PA. Very oddly, he lives a full half an hour away from his area and his district leader is an hour away! So they spend a LOT of time driving through the beautiful, lush trees along the I-86 that Joy and I drove when we were dating and living 5 hours apart. I was touched that he noticed the family significance of that road and said as much to his companion the first time they reached that highway.

July 6 - “My first day there, we went to meet some old guy at his house, and we find his wife instead, who notices our car has something hanging from the bottom of it. She goes into her house, grabs some duct tape, and lays down on the hot road to fix our car. She was super nice and already had lots of faith. She had even already read some of the Book of Mormon! We had a great discussion with her, and she is now one of our friends.”

July 27 - Among the many surprises to Joy and me was that he got permission to leave his mission boundaries because the Palmyra NY temple was closer than the Pittsburgh PA temple. “Thursday was the long-awaited p-day, where we got a ride to the Palmyra temple with our faithful ward member Wade. We got to visit the Sacred Grove and then do 2 endowments, which was super awesome. Afterwards, we went to an amazing sandwich shop, Byrne Dairy Deli, which costs about as much as Jersey Mike's, but they put like 7 times the amount of meat on there, it was sooo good.”

Wade, Elder Fraiken (trainer), and Elder Watson in Palmyra

During their planning, his companion and he decided to knock on doors on Washington St. They put Washington into their GPS and it led them to Washington in a completely different town! It was still their area, so they worked that street instead. "Everyone there was willing to talk to us, and we had some great converations. We did eventually find one person to teach, and I knew that was exactly where the Lord wanted us to be.”

Among his trainer's gifts is as a human selfie stick
With friend Casey and recently acquired Amish hat

21st Anniversary Murder Party

With everything going on in May, we didn't really have much time to celebrate our anniversary this year (a lot - I mean, we did honor each other and the day, but we never got to the Big Thing). Some years ago we got Joy a murder mystery social game, but we never ended up putting it together. This year she wanted to finally get to that. Pity we couldn't find it! So we bought another one, a murder in fairy tale land. Once Elder Watson was off in Pennsylvania and we finally finished sending our kids to church youth camps, we had a few brain cells to put on a big party on July 18.

Joy: Thank you for making it happen, Derrill!
You are very welcome, my love.

Short version: We had the Dummars, Heiers, Van Valkenburgs, and Johnstons over as the other guests. Each of us played a role from a fairy tale setting with very thinly veiled name changes (Ice White is Snow White; Rumble Milton is Rumplestiltskin….). It was really, really fun handing out the first clues a week in advance because everyone was so excited about the game and talking about getting their costumes together. It felt like a right proper party!

Joy: I felt like we were getting together a masquerade with how much detail everyone was putting into their costumes.
We did put in the invitations that folks could dress up as much or as little as they felt comfortable and fun, and I think we picked the right crowd for this.

Mike and Mollie Van Valkenburg as the Warlock of Osland and Ice White
Joe and Chelle Dummar as the Knave of Hearts and Queen Black
Sue and Jim Johnston as Scarlet Cloak and Magnifico
Joy and Derrill Watson as Pandella and Prince Edward Jon
and Shelby and Eric Heier as Bella and Rumple Milton

July 4 game

As we drove home from the metroplex one day, I had a great idea for a board game. I eagerly and gleefully spent the next few days expanding on it, gathering pictures, and working with Chat to brainstorm and organize it.

Think of Forbidden Island or Pandemic, but from the perspective of the Founding Fathers. The players take on the role of one early Patriot, each of whom has a helpful ability. 

In order to guarantee Independence, they must

• Vote for Independence as a Continental Congress
• Write the Declaration of Independence
• Gather supplies for the Continental Army
• Secure support from other countries

before the British army is able to overrun the country. Each turn players perform three actions, which may include moving, rallying support for independency, giving cards to another player, and so on. They draw two cards each turn, which will either be one of the victory cards they need, a helpful support, or an announcement that the British are advancing. Then the British army draws 2-5 cards, taking over key cities or valleys in the colonies.

There are two ways you can set up the board. Either randomize the 26 cities in a diamond or set them out in this stylized colonial pattern. I think the historical map is a bit harder because most cities have fewer connections.

I am most pleased with the five cards for the Declaration of Independence. Each one has a key quote from the Declaration: 

• "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..." 
• "All men ... are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights ... Among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." 
• "Governments ... derive their just powers from the consent of the governed." 
• "Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it." 
• "With a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

Each of the victory conditions has 5 cards you can collect. One of the patriots needs to assemble any 4 of them and bring them to one of two locations. Foreign support can be gathered to Yorktown or Charleston; the Declaration can be issued from Philadelphia or Boston; etc. There are several Midnight Ride cards honoring Paul Revere, Sybil Ludington, William Dawes, and Dr. Samuel Prescott, who each rode off to warn the people in Boston. There are also some expansion cards for if you have 5 players (once Hyrum gets home in two years).

When a city is drawn the first time, we put a King checker on them (red for the Redcoats). Players can rally support for independence to remove a checker. If that city is drawn a second time, though, the card falls completely to the British and the card is flipped over. Patriots can no longer cross that area safely (except Lydia Darragh, a spy).

I learned some interesting things about locations of key battles. I was pretty good about battles in New England, but hadn't known about Guilford Courthouse or Cowpens, which were key victories for the rebels in the South.

We tried the game on July 4 and really enjoyed it. We won!

Elder Watson at the MTC(s)

His official missionary photo

Hyrum was set apart as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Tue, June 9 by our stake president, Patrick Newman, and me. Pres. Newman met with Hyrum several times in the last few weeks as he prepared to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood and to receive his endowment in the temple. Even though I have been a temple worker in three different temples and taught a temple prep class, I felt deeply privileged to be there as Pres. Newman walked Hyrum through all that sacred day would include. In the last few months, Pres. Newman has had these multiple interviews with more than 16 young men and women starting their missions, to say nothing of the people coming off their missions as well. It's been very fulfilling to witness and assist.

Just before the setting apart

Elder Watson started attending the Missionary Training Center from home for the next week+. It was a treat to still have him around, and to watch his growth in real time. I remember my feeling of growth during my two months in the MTC way back when - I wrote in my journal at the time that if this was all I received from my two years' sacrifice, it would have been worth it. Watching Hyrum grow and mature so quickly was amazing.

It also made letting go easier. 

He and his sis have matching shirts.
He got this for her birthday that he would
just barely miss.

Departure at the airport

Training videos via Zoom let us see how very much the MTC has changed in the last almost-30 years since I was there and 35 since Joy was there. Among many other differences are the murals.

The Provo temple is currently being renovated, so they bussed the missionaries to the City Centre or Timpanogos temples. Here is Elder Watson with his 'twinner' companion, Elder Johnson. They got along famously, which was a very good thing as they were assigned to the same district once they arrived in Pennsylvania! 

Among the highlights of his brief time at the MTC was that Elder Bednar, a living apostle, walked into their classroom and did an impromptu Q&A session with them for a solid hour. 

The Y and the U, brought together for the Lord's work

I am particularly thankful that missionaries get to call home weekly now, instead of only at Christmas and Mother's Day. We all missed hearing from Elder Watson something fierce!

Arriving in PA July 1, 2026
with his new mission president

Nia quinceanera

 Nia turned 15 this year. She had her very dear friend S over one day and celebrated with Hyrum before he left for the Provo MTC, she had a second cake on her real birthday, and then a few days later she left for Indiana to watch over her 5 yr old cousin for a few days. 

New dress

Cake 1

Cake 2

Smiling at her friend

Birthday steak

Her favorite present by far was a magic book. "I got 2 magic books that light up on command. It has 4 colours- pink/purple, blue, green, and my favoriite, yellow." It speaks back to you when you address it as "Magic book" and changes colors. Gotta admit, they are super cool.

Here she is at the airport, about to fly solo for the very first time. "It was fun. L is adorable. It was funny that I wanted to watch Bluey more thans she did. She liked doing crafts, but needed more help than not with them, but it's the thought that counts. On the way up, Uncle Steve recognized me by my hair, and on the way back Mom recognized me because I was wearing bright pink sweatpants."

Early summer pictures

April 11 - Joy and I went on a walk around town along the Bosque River Trail and found a mural we hadn't seen before. We took a pic near a little fairy reading a book, just like our Nia.

April 20 - Nia on a giant trampoline doing backflips and 360s and scaring her poor father to death when she lands on her head. No damage done, bouncing up again laughing gleefully. Mom, thankfully, never saw it. JT sits tall and proud.

 

May 11 - Joy has taken up woodburning. Nia liked the idea and tried it out as well. She has some real artistic talent! Left: a dragon for Grandma. Right: a girl reading a book under a tree for our cutting board.

May 26 - Nia discovers Tofu and spinach

May 29 - Hyrum takes missionary pictures

May 31 - Mini golf. Joy hit Lovey's ball in for a hole in one!

June 4,5,6 - Hyrum's driver's license arrives! 

Elder Watson's missionary name tag arrives too!

And then we spend the day at Six Flags!

Only after taking the picture did Bugs discover we were dressed for the "wrong" park

We stayed overnight at a hotel and then spent the next day at the temple

June 9 - Nia enjoyed her strawberry ice cream smoothie with sprinkles in a Buddha head cup. She also enjoyed going to For the Strength of Youth (FSY) as Hyrum was about to become ... Elder Watson!

Hyrum's great big Mother's Day

 Boys don't usually get to celebrate Mother's Day, but Hyrum certainly had a big role to play in ours. My parents flew out here so that we could ordain Hyrum as an elder on Mother's Day. 

Joy got a lightup mosaic lamp

Preparing caramel apples for Grandma

A few days later (May 13) , Hyrum went to the temple to receive his very own endowments, and my parents were able to come with. I was his escort. Lavinia and JT stayed at home when the rest of us drove up. After the endowment session, we also did a sealing session so he could see what that was like. Then we had Chinese to also celebrate Joy passing her counseling test.

Joy: "He and I were excited to start going to the temple together because I work at the temple on Fridays. We were hoping that he would be able to be a temple worker also, but there wasn't enough time for the eight required shifts before he left on his mission. But he did go with me every week. It was really awesome to go to the temple together."

It was the following Monday, after she got home, when my mother had her heart attack. We were so very thankful that we had been blessed to have such a special time together, particularly when we didn't know if it would be the Last time. So grateful it isn't!

Some other related pics:

Celebrating Hyrum's birthday on Zoom

Practicing his deadliest ping-pong serve yet