Dialann - Issue 14, April 2014

N EW YO RK A P R I L 2 0 1 4
REMEMBERING
REVELEE
Get a notebook, a journal that will last through all time, and maybe the angels may quote from it for
eternity. Begin today and write in it your goings and comings, your deepest thoughts, your achievements
and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies.
P R E S I D E N T S P E N C E R W. K I M B A L L
NEW YORK
APRIL 2014
Our family
Susan Jane Hibdon Joyce
Dustin Tyler Joyce
Fiona Claire Joyce
Colin Everett Joyce
ISSUE 14
36 PAGES
TA B L E
of C O N T E N T S
N EW YO RK A P R I L 2 0 1 4
REMEMBERING
REVELEE
on the front cover

Susans grandmother,
Revelee Lee Hibdon, in
1963 or 1965.
DialannIrish for journalis

published quarterly at New York, in
January, April, July, and October.
on the BACK cover

Susans cousin, Deborah
Deegan, with Revelee
Hibdon.
ISSN 2334-3230 (print)

ISSN 2334-3249 (online)
Published by
Dustin Tyler Joyce
dtjoyce.com
Printed by
Blurb
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dialann.org/copyright
14
14 Remembering Revelee
At a springtime memorial service in Oregon,
the Hibdons remembered their mother,
grandmother, aunt, and matriarch in the way
only the Hibdons could.
+ Mama Lee kills the neighbors hogs
F RO M O U R A RCH I V ES
24 Receiving the call
17.45 PDT, 8 MAY 2007
WE BELIEVE IN CHRIST
28 Growing in the gospel

By Dustin | Dustin shares two more of the talks
he gave in church as a youth.
+ The Church in our day
N O T I F I C AT I O N S
31 JanuaryMarch 2014
A new quarterly roundup of the
tidbits of our lives we share on
social media.
By Dustin | A journal entry from the month

Dustin received his mission call
reveals the mixed
emotions of that
34
dayand the Spirits
confirmation that he was
going where the Lord
wanted him to go.
THE JOURNAL
SUSAN
dialann.org
DUSTIN
FIONA
Lift up the hands

that hang down
Finding our
first home
The toddler
that travels
In a church talk, Susan

teaches that all of us can
share the pure love of
Christand we all need
to feel it from others.
We found apartment
931 by chance. We made
itthat wonderful little
apartmentour home
by choice.
Fiona imparts wisdom

shes gained on travels
with Mama and Daddy.
PAGE 4
PAGE 6
PAGE 10
+ Valentines Day love

notes from Mama
COLIN
Colin goes
hoteling for
the first time
A first train ride takes
Colin to his first night
away from home.
+ Colins baby blessing
PAGE 12
M I LESTO N ES
JANUARYMARCH 2014
JAN
JA N UA RY
Mo
Tu
2 Colin is born
4 Colin comes home
The Metropolitan Transportation

Authoritys MetroCard, which
New Yorkers use to pay subway
and bus fares, turns 20. The MTA,
which operates subways and
buses in New York City as well
as the Long Island Rail Road and
Metro-North, plans to phase the
cards out by 2019
7 The low temperature in
Central Park hits 4F (15.6C),
breaking a 118-year-old (1896)
record low for 7 January in New
York Cityand the coldest
temperature ever measured in
the city in January. Wind chills
were as low as 15F (26C).
In fact, all 50 states, including
Hawaii, have temperatures below
freezing, and the phrase polar
vortex enters our vocabulary
9 Dustin (32)
27 The price of a first-class
stamp rises from 46 to 49 cents
F E B RUA RY
2 Colins baby blessing (see
page 13)
6 After 22 years on the air, Jay
Leno hosts The Tonight Show for
the last time. Like, for reals this
time
723 Sochi, Russia, hosts the
XXII Olympic Winter Games
1718 Family to New Haven,
ConnecticutColins first
overnight trip (see page 12)
28 Susan and Dustins 6th
anniversary (technically on 29
February, but that date doesnt
occur this year)
MAR
Su
1 In a ceremony at his home

in Brooklyn two minutes after
midnight, Bill de Blasio is sworn
in as New York Citys 109th mayor
6 The Senate votes 5626 to

confirm Janet Yellen as chair of
the Federal Reserve Board of
Governors. Ms. Yellen is the first
woman to head the United States
central bank
FEB
2 John Travolta introduces

the wickedly talented one
and only Adele Dazeem at the
86th Academy Awardswhich
would be fine, except her name
is actually Idina Menzel. It was
an embarrassing slip-up that left
viewers scratching their heads
and everyone wondering once
again whats wrong with Mr.
Travolta
5 Researchers announce a
new discovery about Stonehenge:
its stones ring a bit like a bell
or a gong when struck, leading
some to wonder whether the
monuments original purpose
was to produce, as The Guardian
cheekily put it, rock music
8 Malaysia Airlines flight
370, flying from Kuala Lumpur
to Beijing with 239 people on
board (227 passengers and 12
crew), disappears en route; on 24
March, Malaysias prime minister
announces that beyond any
reasonable doubt investigators
have determined that the plane
crashed in the Indian Ocean south
of Perth, Australia, killing all on
board
10 The American Public
Transportation Association
reports that transit ridership
in the United States is at its
2
3
Sa
Su
Mo
Tu
We
Th
Fr
10
Sa
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Su
12
Mo
13
10
10
Tu
14
11
11
We
15
12
12
Th
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13
13
Fr
17
14
14
16 Crimea holds a referendum

on whether to join Russia;
Russian troops were already
occupying the peninsula, so
unsurprisingly the vote was nearly
unanimous in Russias favor.
The ongoing crisis in the region
has been a major international
issue, revealing in sharp relief
the simmering tensions between
Russia and the West
Sa
18
15
15
Su
19
16
16
Mo
20
17
17
Tu
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18
18
We
22
19
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Th
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20
Fr
24
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21
Sa
25
22
22
17 A minor, 4.4-magnitude
earthquake shakes Los Angeles
just before sunrise, notable
mostly for, as the Los Angeles
Times put it, ending the citys
earthquake drought. It was also
caught on camera during KTLAs
morning newscast, which showed
the anchors diving under the
desk before popping back up to
continue the program after the
shaking stopped
Su
26
23
23
Mo
27
24
24
Tu
28
25
25
We
29
26
26
Th
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Fr
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28
MR.TINDC | 14 MARCH 2010 | CC BY-ND 2.0

HTTPS://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/MR_T_IN_DC/4444688472
2 Gilbert Arizona Temple

dedicated by President Thomas
S. Monson. With 85,000 square
feet (7,900 square meters) of
floor space, it is the largest temple
constructed by the Church in 17
years
Th
Fr
Dont leave home without it: We can get by without a cell phone, house
keys, or even a wallet. But thesethese are our constant companion.
M ARCH
We
highest level since large-scale

suburbanization began in the
1950s, with more than 10.7 billion
trips taken on buses, trains, and
other modes in 2013. One-third
of those trips were taken in New
York and the surrounding region
12 An explosion levels two
apartment buildings, at 1644 and
1646 Park Avenue on the west
side of the Metro-North trestle
between 116th and 117th streets, in
East Harlem, Manhattan
22 A major mudslide near Oso,

Washington, about 50 miles east
of Seattle, covers a one-squaremile (2.6-square-kilometer) area
in mud and debris and kills 43
peoplethe deadliest mudslide in
United States history
Sa
29
Su
30
Mo
31
CO LO R KEY
holidays
travel
birthdays
events in our lives
events in the Church
world events
DIAL ANN APRI L 2014
THE JOURNAL
Lift up the hands that hang down

sunday,
9 march 2014
All of us can share
the pure love of
Christand we
all need to feel it
from others.
This is the transcript of a talk

Susan gave in the sacrament
meeting of the Bushwick 1st
Branch.
4
ood morning, everyone. Ive been

asked to speak today about charity and
service. One of my favorite scriptures is the
one about charity, the one thats in Corinthians1 and
also in Moroni,2 that says charity is the pure love of
Christ.3 And that is the reason that we do service,
because of love for those around us. But what Ive
been thinking about lately is that the service that
most people need is just love itself. Really all we need
is love. Its not the physical service, the things we
bring to each other, or doing somebodys dishesits
just the love that we show each other.
Earlier this week at school, I was visiting a
friends classroom and picked up one of the books
that students read during their free reading time.
Its a book I have seen many times over the years,
called A Child Called It, which some of you may
have read. Its incredibly popular among high-school
students, and I honestly cannot understand why.
I can never read this book because it is so sad. Its
autobiographical. It was written by a man who, when
he was a little boy, was horribly, horribly abused by
his mother. It eventually has a happy ending: it turns
out there are three books in the series and, obviously,
he grows up and hes doing just fine now. But its so
sad because this little boy grew up feeling like nobody
loved him. And every once in a while I hear stories
similar to that in the news about some awful thing
that happened to somebody, whether its a little kid
or a grownup. And every time I hear those stories, I
wish I could be the one that could hold that little kid
and be the one who loves that kid and let them know
that there is somebody who loves them. I think that
is the saddest thing in the world. There are lots of
sad things in the world, but I think the saddest thing
in the world is kids growing up and adults going
through life feeling like nobody loves themfeeling
alone and feeling unloved.
And the Savior said a few times, if you love me,
feed my sheep.4 In the past week as Ive been thinking
about this talk, Ive started to realize a little more
about that. The Savior wants us to serve each other
because he loves the people that we serve. And he
feels sad when he sees one of those people feeling sad.
Its not just because hes taken all of our pains upon
him. Yes, he feels sad because he feels our sadness,
because hes the Savior and he took all of our pains
and sicknesses and everything upon himself in the
Atonement. But he also feels his own sadness when
were sad. Its not just our sadness that hes feeling; he
feels sad, for himself.
I think about how sad I am about the idea of a
kid who gets teased and doesnt have any friends. Or,
one of my greatest fears as I was growing up, when

I was in high school especially, was that someday I
would grow up and I would get a job and move to
some city and where I didnt know anybody and I
would be all alone. And I thought about how sad
it would be to spend my birthday by myself having
nobody around to tell me happy birthday. And,
thankfully, that has never happened. But it does
happen to some people. And I think about how sad
that is. Or, when somebodys older and theyre retired
and they live alone or they live in a care facility and
theres nobody who goes to visit them. And I know
that Heavenly Father does not want that to happen to
his children. He doesnt want any of us to be alone.
Were not alone, because the Holy Ghost can
always be with us. And Heavenly Father loves all of
his children. But sometimes we all need a person to
be there to love us. I think about my own children
and how I want to make sure that they never feel sad
or alone. (Theyll feel sad sometimeseverybody
feels sad sometimes. Fiona tripped on the way in to
church today and skinned her knee. But shes fine
now.) But the feeling of loneliness, of having no
oneI hope that never happens. And thats why it
means so much to me when I see other people around
us showing their love for my children, because I
want them to know that theyre loved, not just by
us but by other people. I think thats how Heavenly
Father feels about his children: he wants all of us to
feel loved by his other children. And everyone can
do that. It doesnt really take a lot of resources to
love. You dont need money. You dont necessarily
need to have time. You dont need a lot of education
or training or anything like that. You just have to be
there for somebody. Mourn with those that mourn
and comfort those that stand in need of comfort.5
All of us can do that. And all of us are in that position
sometimes where we are the ones that are mourning
or we are the ones that need to be comforted.
I have many stories, it turns out, that relate
to this subject. One of them happened a long time
ago. My older brother was in college. It must have
been at least 20 years ago, I think. He came home at
Christmastime from college and he had one of those
little Game Boys, I guess. I dont knowI was little
enough that I didnt know what it was called. But I
guess it was a little Game Boy, which was kind of a
big deal at the time because it was a long time ago.
And my older sister said, Wow, whered you get that
thing?! And he said, Oh, well, my friend so-and-so
gave it to me for Christmas. And my sister saidit
was pretty unusual that a college student wouldve
been able to buy this thing for another college
SUSAN
studentso my sister said, Really?! Why
did he do that? Why would he give you
that present? So my brother told this story
about this guy that was pretty awkward
and didnt have a lot of social skills and a
lot of people made fun of him. (You would
think that, by college, people would be over
making fun of each other, but apparently
they were not.) So they were making fun of
this guy. And I remember vividly the tone
in my brothers voice when he said, I just
would never do that. He was friends with
this guy because he just would never treat
somebody that way.
Its really very simple to show love
for people, I think. Its not as complicated
as we sometimes think that it is. And
sometimes with home and visiting teaching
we think it has to be this big thing. It
doesnt have to be a big thing. Were just
showing love for people. Were just letting
people know that we love them. And
the thing about servicelike going out
and helping peopleis, that lets people
know you care about them. There are
some kinds of service where youre sort of
disconnected from the person, like a big
natural disasterthe earthquake in Haiti6 or
the earthquake in Japan7 or the typhoon in
the Philippines8where we cant physically
go there to help, but maybe we can donate
some money to help. And, in some cases,
thats all that we can really do to show that
we care about those people. But in a lot of
cases we do actual things: bringing a meal
to somebody whos sick or stressed out, or
helping clean somebodys house up after
Hurricane Sandy, or washing dishes for
somebodyanything that you can imagine,
any little thing that somebody might need.
Were not just showing that were there
for them to fill their physical or temporal
needswere not just there to take a meal,
were not just there to clean up their house,
were there to show that we actually care
about that person, which doesnt just fill the
temporal need. It fills their emotional and
social and spiritual needs by showing that
we love them and by showing that Heavenly
Father loves them also.
One scripture that has always stood
out to me about love might not seem like
a usual love scripture: its in Doctrine and
Covenants 81:5. And it says: Wherefore,
be faithful; stand in the office which I have
appointed unto you; succor the weak,
lift up the hands which hang down, and
strengthen the feeble knees. When I was
a missionary in Germany I was walking
with my companion one day in some
neighborhood that we had never been

to and there was this statue. And it was
interesting that my companion and I both
thought of this scripture when we saw
this statue. I dont know what exactly the
statue looked likeit was more a sculpture,
I guess, it wasnt any particular person.
But this person had really long arms and
their hands were hanging down and their
shoulders were kind of slumped and it just
looked like somebody who needed help,
somebody who was weak and needed to
be succored, somebody who needed their
hands to be lifted up and their knees to be
strengthened. And that, to me, is about
love, because sometimes we just feel like we
cant go on.
A similar scripture is the one in
Doctrine and Covenants 45 that talks about
mens hearts failing them in the latterdaysin the last days, mens hearts will fail
them.9 To me, that means that you just feel
like you cant do it any more. Youre at the
end of your rope and you cant handle it any
that summer. But that was not my plan. I

wanted to be a high-school teacher againI
wanted to have, you know, a real job and
an actual apartment. But I didnt think I
wanted it to be in Utah. And I knew I didnt
want to go back to Texas, which is where
I had been before my mission. So I was
sort of applying for teaching positions all
over the country, which is not the way that
you normally get teaching positions. And
it was scary, because, if any of you have
ever worked in a school district, you might
be aware: teachers dont get hired until
August usually, because everybody wants
to make sure that they have their next job
lined up before they officially quit their last
job, and that means their last job cant be
filled until their resignation is in, and that
doesnt happen until August, or sometimes
September. So its really, really scary
because you dont know what youre going
to be doing. And I, in this case, was going
to have to move to whatever city I ended up
getting a job in, but I wasnt going to know
You just have to be there for somebody. Mourn with those that mourn
and comfort those that stand in need of comfort. All of us can do that.
And all of us are in that position sometimes where we are the ones that
are mourning or we are the ones that need to be comforted.
more and you have nothing left. You just

cant go on. And youre not just physically
worn out where you need a nap, but youre
emotionally and spiritually worn out where
you need love.
A little while after I came home from
my mission, I didnt know what to do
with my life. I had already taught for three
years before my mission. And then I came
home and I didnt have an apartment to
live in, and I didnt have a job, and I wasnt
in school any more, so I couldnt take a
semester to try to figure things out, because
I was the teacher. I was the one who was
supposed to be teaching and earning money
and supporting myself. And I didnt know
where to go. I lived with my parents for a
little while, just a month or two. And then I
found an apartment in Provo. (Which was
a weird experience; its the only time Ive
ever lived in Provo. It was enough for me.)
And I found a sort of temporary filler
job that allowed me to get by in Provo for
if I had a job until two weeks before school

started. So it was really, really stressful,
and I felt like I was going through all of
this by myself. I was scared and alone, and
making big decisions all by yourself without
anybody to bounce ideas off of or anything
like that was really overwhelming.
I went to the temple one day, and I
was sitting in the celestial room and just
crying because I just didnt know what to
do. It was really nice to be in the temple
because it was a feeling of relief: at least in
the temple I was safe, and maybe I would
just never ever leave. This lady that I had
never seen before came up and she said,
You know, I thought that you might need a
hug. Im sure it was probably fairly obvious
that I might have needed a hug, because
I think there were tears streaming down
my cheeks. I did not look good at all. And
it really wasnt just a hug that I needed. I
continued on page 30
THE JOURNAL
Finding our first home

We found
apartment 931 by
chance. We made
itthat wonderful
little apartment
our home by
choice.
For more about

apartment 931, including
a photo gallery and an
excerpt on Dorchester
House from from the
foremost book on
Washington, D.C.s most
prominent apartment
buildings, Best Addresses
by James M. Goode, visit
dialann.org
6
s Susan and I were making wedding

and life-together plans in late 2007 and
early 2008, a top item on the agenda was
finding a place to live. I had been living in a familys
attic in Tenleytown in Northwest D.C. while Susan
had been living with two roommates in Parkside, a
condominium complex by the Grosvenor-Strathmore
Metro station in Montgomery County, Maryland,
that was nicknamed little Provo because of all
the members of the D.C. 2nd singles ward who
lived there. Clearly she wasnt moving into an attic
with me, and there was no way I was moving to the
dreadfully dull Parkside, or any place outside the
District of Columbia for that matter. So we started
looking.

We decided that a reasonable monthly rent
budget would be the sum of what we had previously
been paying separatelyin my case, $700 a month,
and for Susan, $600, for $1,300 or so.1 At the time,
that actually gave us some nice things to choose from
in D.C.

One of the first places we looked was at The
Envoy, a beautiful, older apartment building on
16th Street NW across from Meridian Hill Park. The
neighborhood itself was lovelyI had spent time
there on several of my many walking explorations of
the cityand Meridian Hill Park, with its dramatic
fountain and paths shaded by large, old trees, was
certainly a draw. The building itself was gorgeous on
the outside while, inside, the lobby was stunning.
Though the available apartment itself had been
remodeled with carpeting and contemporary kitchen
cabinets that dated the renovation to about 15 years
prior, on the whole I thought it would be an awesome
place to liveand we could actually afford it, too!

I worked just down 16th Street, so I had arrived
first on that Friday evening, 25 January 2008, and got
a personal tour of the building. When Susan arrived
later, she liked what we saw, too, but we werent
quite ready to commit to the first place wed seen.
Malinda, the very friendly and very earnest leasing
agent who had provided the tour, said she would hold
the apartment for us even though, she whispered,
she wasnt supposed to. We thanked her and said we
would be in touch.

The next morning, Saturday, 26 January, we got
an early start. Susan drove us in her car, Pantone,
to make the process a little faster. We started off at
Waterside Towers at 6th and I streets in Southwest
D.C. An email message from a leasing agent to Susan
at the time describes it well:
We are excited that you are interested
in a new home at Waterside Towers. We

have one 1 bedroom available for move in
on 1-23-08 that has a fabulous water view
renting for 1,300.00 to 1,400.00 per month
with all utilities included. A nice feature
to our apartment homes, you can enter
the balcony from the living area and the
bedroom. Laundry facilities are located on
each floor and we use smart cards instead
of coins. We are a 1/2 block from the
Waterfront metro and three blocks from
lefont [sic; its actually LEnfant] metro.

Like the apartment at The Envoy, these were
carpeted, and the kitchens, too, dated to the early
1990s. But the view from the balcony was stunning,
overlooking the Washington Channel and East
Potomac Park, with a clear view of the Jefferson
Memorial and the buildings across the river in
Arlington. The top third or so of the Washington
Monument was even visible above some nearby
buildings. Southwest at the time was an up-andcoming neighborhood that was rapidly changing,
and it could be a cool place to live, even if urban
renewal in the 1960s and 1970s had stripped it of
most of the historic charm that characterizes much of
Washington. We said we would be in touch.

Susan had seen an ad online for an apartment
building called Dorchester House. It was at 2480 16th
Street NW, just up the street from The Envoy. She
suggested we stop by to see what they had, so we
hopped back into Susans car and headed there next.

Your first impression of these buildings is, of
course, the lobby. While the lobby at The Envoy is
visually stunning, the lobby at Dorchester House is,
in its own way, impressive: it is literally the longest
lobby of any apartment building in Washington.
(We later learned this was because, at the time it was
built, 16th Street NW was a very fashionable place
to live, and the buildings front door was put at the
one corner actually touching 16th Street to secure
an address on that street.) That, combined with the
original art-deco details still visible in the lobby,
made up for the dated orange and green carpet and
peach-colored walls that were slightly reminiscent
of a nightclub frozen in a 1980s heyday that had long
since passed.

In the leasing office we met Tyrone, who
whisked us up to the 9th floor to show us apartment
931, a recently vacated apartment at the end of a
hallway equal in length to the buildings exaggerated
lobby. We entered through the orange door and into a
small foyer with a coat closet to the left. Beyond that,
DUSTIN
a vast original parquet floor shimmered like
a sea thanks to what looked like an inch or
two of glossy lacquer. This huge, L-shaped
space served as both living and dining area.
Walled off on the left was the small kitchen,
with its original white washboard sinkthe
washboards were, in fact, the only counter
space in the kitchenand cabinetry. Across
the living room were a single bedroom and
bathroom, connected by a short hallway (if
it could be called a hallway) and separated
by a linen closet. The bathroom had a small,
frosted window to the outside while the
bedroom had two windows, one on each of
the outside walls.

We were immediately drawn to the
three windows at the far end of the living
room. When we got there, we were almost
awestruck by what we saw: a sweeping
view of the nations capital, from the
Washington Monument to Washington
National Cathedral. We looked across much
of the city, including Dupont Circle and
Foggy Bottom, down to the Potomac River
and beyond into Arlington. Looking down
the river we could see National Airport,
the Air Force Memorial near the Pentagon,
and the recently completed Wilson Bridge,
which carried the southern part of the
Capital Beltway, Interstate 495, between
Alexandria, Virginia, and Prince Georges
County, Maryland.

Susan and I first thought that there
was no way we could afford so incredible
a space. Then Tyrone told us the rent:
$1,425.00 a month, all utilities included.
Actually, it was entirely within our means
(thanks, rent control!).

Tyrone mentioned that there was
another one-bedroom apartment available
in the building, and he took us down to the
sixth floor to see it. It, too, was a beautiful
space, with a view up 16th Street toward the
three church spires that crown Meridian
Hill at the intersection of 16th Street,
Mount Pleasant Street, and Columbia Road
(a nameless squareunusual in the nations
capital). But we knew that if we were going
to live at Dorchester House, we wanted to
live in apartment 931. We returned to the
leasing office and told Tyrone we would be
in touch.

We had seen some great apartments
and now we had a decision to make.
We decided to take a walk through
the neighborhood. We walked west
down Euclid Street on the north side of
Dorchester House, toward the heart of
Adams Morgan at Columbia Road and 18th
Street. It was a brisk, breezy, sunny day.
Bedroom
148 129
4.47m 3.89m
CLOSET
Bath
53 88
1.6m 2.64m
A/C
LINEN
CLOSET
Living room
216 128
6.55m 3.86m
CLOSET
A/C
CLOSET
REF
Kitchen
Dining room
137 75
4.14m 2.26m
CLOSET
ABOUT
DORCHESTER HOUSE
address
2480 16th Street NW
Washington, D.C.
architect
Francis L. Koenig, 1941
original apartments
70 studios
291 one-bedrooms
33 two-bedrooms
394 total
Floor plan of apartment 931.

DRAWN BY DUSTIN, BASED ON DIAGRAMS ON
DORCHESTER HOUSES CURRENT WEBSITE AND IN THE
BOOK BEST ADDRESSES: A CENTURY OF WASHINGTONS
DISTINGUISHED APARTMENT HOUSES BY JAMES M. GOODE
(DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: SMITHSONIAN BOOKS, 1988)
MEASUREMENTS ARE APPROXIMATE
page 8 (over)
A vintage advertisement for Dorchester
House, published shortly before the building
opened in 1941.
VIA GHOSTS OF DC
GHOSTSOFDC.ORG/2012/10/10/DORCHESTER-HOUSE-AD-1941
Opened as rental in 1941

When we arrived at the triangle bounded

by Euclid Street, Champlain Street,
and Columbia Roadanother nameless
squarewe looked around. We had our
Brigham Young moment: we realized that
this was the place. The buildings, the shops,
the trees, the rowhouses lining Euclid
Street, the historic First Church of Christ,
Scientist, overlooking the squarewe knew
this was where we wanted to begin our lives
together. So we marched back to the leasing
office at Dorchester House and told Tyrone
wed take apartment 931.

We signed the lease at 18.00 on
Wednesday, 20 February, and I moved in
that Saturday, 23 February. Susan joined
me, of course, on Saturday, 1 March, after
our wedding in New York the day before.

We loved that apartment. In spite of
limited kitchen and counter space, we made
the best of it and that kitchen became the
source of great dinners and desserts and
food for parties. We loved having people
over. Shortly after we moved in, the fourth
Indiana Jones film was to be released. To
gear up for it, over the course of a month
we invited friends over and borrowed a
projector to show the first three films on the
large white wall in the dining area. During
the first film, Raiders of the Lost Ark, we
even had some special effects courtesy
of Mother Nature: during the scene on
a stormy night when Indiana Jones first
goes into the chamber filled with snakes, a
thunderstorm broke out over D.C., rushing
wind through our apartment and slamming
at least one door. The timing was perfect.

On another occasion we had Susans
parents, her sister Ellen, and her sister
Karen and her family over for dinner.
(That would pretty much be an impossible
achievement in our current apartment.)
There was also the time the elders quorum
in our ward was supposed to feed the
missionaries, but no one stepped forward
to do it. So we had all eight missionaries
serving in our branch as well as a few
quorum members over. (Also unachievable
in our current apartment.) There was the
wine and cheese party Susan organized,
and Fionas first birthday party. So many
memories.

We also loved the rooftop deck, which
afforded a 360-degree panorama of the
nations capital, including the Capitol dome
and the treelined view straight down 16th
Street to the White House. We had Harris
Teeter, the grocery store I had grown up
with in North Carolina, right next door
(which also had a Redbox in the lobby), and
The view from apartment 931.

DUSTIN | 9.16 EDT, 27 MARCH 2009
the month we moved in D.C.s first Target

opened in the heart of Columbia Heights, a
10-minute walk away. (Our trips to Target
now take around an hour one-way.) We
loved walks around Meridian Hill Park and
its fountain, especially after we discovered
the drum circle that gathers there on
Sunday afternoons.

Thats not to say apartment 931 was
perfect. Its south- and west-facing position
on the top floor of the buildingmuch too
high for trees to shademeant it could
get terribly hot in the summer. That got
a little better our second summer in the
apartment when central air conditioning
was installedbut that was in the midst
of a protracted legal battle between the
buildings owner and tenants over the
installation of that air conditioning and
potential reductions in rent in exchange
for tenants taking over payment for their
own electricity.2 Mice were occasional
houseguests.

On Thursday, 1 September 2011,
our family, which by then included little
Fiona, woke up in that apartment for the
last time. It was virtually empty by then;
our belongings were already on their way
to our new home in Brooklyn. We said a
bittersweet farewell to our first home. After
1,279 days3exactly three and a half years
we closed the door to apartment 931 behind
us for the last time.

But I will never forget the first night I
spent in apartment 931. It was an exciting
time, but it was also an anxious time. Susan
and I felt confident in our decision to marry
each other, but new experiences, no matter
how great, can be nerve-racking. As I went
to sleep on the air mattress we had put in
the bedroom for my use that week, I lay
thinking about everything ahead, with a
mix of excitement and anxiety churning
in my stomach. Just then, a nearly full
moon broke through the clouds and a
column of moonlight shone through the
window right onto where I lay. A calm and
peaceful feeling came over me, and I knew
everything would be alright.

And it was. d
NOTES
1. Susan and I cant remember if these figures are
entirely accurate, but theyre close.
2. For the record, we thought the central air
conditioning was a much-needed improvement.
And when people pay for their own electricity,
theyre likely to use less of ita win for
everyone, including the planet. And the final
ruling on the rent decrease was quite favorable
to tenants, especially those, like us, who chose
to start paying our own electric bill as soon as
possible.
3. It was 1,279 days from the day both Susan and
Dustin lived there, 1 March 2008; since Dustin
moved in on 23 February 2008, he lived in
apartment 931 for 1,286 days.
THE JOURNAL
The toddler that travels
M
Fionas firsts
Fionas first visit to each

of the states shes been
to so far
States where Fionas
has had an actual,
on-the-ground visit
States Fiona has
passed through by
plane, train, or bus
* Fiona first passed through a few
states before visiting them later.
For more details

and to keep up with
Fionas travels, visit her
TravelTracker at
dialann.org
Fiona imparts
some of the
wisdom shes
gained on travels
with Mama and
Daddy.
10
District of Columbia
15 July 2010
Indiana
21 April 2011
Maryland
17 July 2010
Ohio
21 April 2011
Virginia
9 August 2010
Nevada
8 August 2011
West Virginia
22 September 2010
California
8 August 2011
North Carolina
25 February 2011
Delaware
19 August 2011
South Carolina
15 April 2011
New York
19 August 2011
Georgia
15 April 2011
New Jersey
11 September 2011*
Alabama
15 April 2011
Connecticut
26 October 2011
Mississippi
17 April 2011
Pennsylvania
26 May 2012*
Louisiana
18 April 2011
Utah
23 December 2012*
Tennessee
20 April 2011
Massachusetts
17 February 2013
Kentucky
21 April 2011
Vermont
18 February 2013
Illinois
21 April 2011
New Hampshire
18 Feburary 2013
y Mama and Daddy say that

only two things are worth
spending money on. And,
they say, since theres such a
thing as libraries, that really
leaves just one thing: traveling.
Mama and Daddy take me and Baby Brother
places as often as they can. Sometimes its just
a daytrip, which means its a trip that we take in
just one day. They wake me and Baby Brother up
early in the morning and we go to the train station
and take a train somewhere like the beach or the
farm or a small town.
Sometimes we go places that are even
farther away and we have to go hoteling. Hoteling
is the best. Thats when you eat pizza and drink
soda and eat ice cream and watch TV. When you
can go to Connecticut [see page 12], you can get
a movie like Finding Nemo, and thats my favorite
one! Then we go to sleep in a big room with big,
comfy beds. Its so much fun!
This summer were going to go camping in
Pennsylvania with Grammy and Papa. When we
go camping you have to have special stuff like
flashlights. Were going to get a car to go there.
Im so excited! Ive never been camping before.
Were going to stay in our own cabin. Mama and
Daddy tell me its a little like hoteling but that
well have our very own little house.
Sometimes we go even farther away. When
we go to Salt Lake its very far, so we have to take
two airplanes and its nighttime when we actually
just get there. I like being on a plane, but theres
seatbelts and I dont know how to lift suitcases up
onto airplanes. But I like sitting down and taking
a rest and seeing the city above us. I dont feel
bored at all on airplanes. I have so much fun!
I really like riding in airplanes, but riding the
FIONA
Highlighted portions of text are verbatim quotes from Fiona. We're a little behindokay, a lot behind, like over a year
on our magazine right now, and Fiona didn't necessarily speak this well in April 2014. These lines were recorded 12 May 2015.
bus can be just as much fun, even if the

view on the New Jersey Turnpike isnt as
nice. When were visiting Nana we have
to go to Maryland, so we have to take
the Megabus. Its fun bumping up and
down. When you go to D.C., its pretty
far from New York. I play games like
knock-knock jokes. This is my favorite:
Knock knock!
[Whos there?]
Jamaican!
[Jamaican who?]
Jamaican me crazy!
Theres also this one, which I just made
up:
Knock knock!
[Whos there?]
Orange peel!
[Orange peel who?]
Orange peel glad you could collect
all my fruits!
And I also get to have picnics on the
Megabus and on the plane.
When I visit my cousins, theyre in
Bethesda, so we take a Megabus to get
there, too. They also live in Maryland! So
Maryland is a state we get to go to a lot.
Mama and Daddy tell me that there
are 50 states, plus a place called the
District of Columbia which isnt a state
but its still in the United States but the
people there dont get representation
in Congress. I dont know what any of
that really means, but Ill take their word
for it. Anyway, they say that their goal
is for me to visit all 50 of them (plus
D.C., which is where I was born, so thats
done). And Im excited to come along
for the ride. d
VA L E N TI N E S DAY
love notes from Mama

On Valentines Day, Fiona and I went ice skating (see page
32 for a photo). When we got back, Susan surprised each of
us with 12 little love notes, each noting something that Susan
loves about us. Heres what she said.
dustin
TO D USTI N
TO F I O N A
I love watching you dance.
I love singing songs with you.
I love listening to you talk to Colin while

you change his diapers.
I love your stories about when you were in

high school.
I love watching you run and play with

Fiona.
I love holding your hand when we walk

down the street.
I love how committed you are to doing the

right thing.
I love it that you like to wear firefighter

boots.
I love it that you appreciate my influence.
I love your good memory.
I love your sense of adventure.
I love listening to you pray.
I love getting hugs from you.
I love the questions you ask.
I love how interested you are in things, like

trains and maps and languages and making
things look nice.
I love watching you jump and dance when

you talk.
I love it that you do silly things like having

a dish brush poke its head in the door to
say goodbye to me.
I love your laugh.
I love the excited look you get on your

face when youre about to do something
you know will make me laugh.
I love being cozy with you and talking

about things like rain or plants.
I love it that you know how to be happy

and take joy in little things, like ordering
pizza in a hotel or having 12 cans of
tomatoes.
I love the way you help us take care of

Baby Brother.
I love knowing that you love me and that

you want to be the best you can be for
me, Fiona, and Colin. I love it that you
looked at my ring every night and thought
about that.
I love it that you like to go to the museum.
11
THE JOURNAL
Colin goes hoteling* for the first time

1718 february 2014
Colin spends his
first night away
from homeand
takes his first train
ride, to boot.
Colin hangs out on

the bed in our hotel
room in New Haven,
Connecticut.
DUSTIN | 21.08 EST, 17 FEB 2014
* This is a Fionaism that

simply means staying in
a hotel. (Perhaps it also
includes watching a movie,
eating pizza and a treat,
and drinking soda in said
hotel, since thats what we
always do, too. See page
10.) Except she normally
pronounces it as if it were
spelled hooteling.
12
ight around the time I started to

get used to my surroundings, one
day Mama and Daddy and Fiona
started packing things into these
boxessuitcases, they called
themand then they packed me into my car seat
in my stroller and away we went to some places I
had never imagined before. It was an interesting
experience, I guess. Not what I was expecting (I
didnt really know that there was anything else to
expect besides going to our house, to church, and
on walks).
First we
rode the subway,
which wasnt that
unusual. But then
we went into a
huge room that
almost looked
like it must be
outside, it was so
big. And then we
got onto a train.
Not a regular
subway train, but
a different kind
of train. I looked out the window some, and slept
some, as usual.
When we got off the train, we were
someplace else. I dont really know that much
yet, so its hard to say, but it seemed new. And
cold. We walked and walked until we got to a
new building and went inside. I was pretty hungry
at that point, so I mostly remember crying until
Mama gave me a bottle while Daddy talked to a
lady at a desk. Then we got on an elevator and
went upstairs to a new apartment! There were
two big beds, and later someone brought a little
bed for me. I got to flop down on some really soft

blankets on one of the big beds. Fiona flopped
down on the other one. She seemed pretty
excited about hoteling.
After a while someone brought in another
thing that Mama and Daddy said was going to be
my bed. That sounded good to me. But then we
went outside again and walked around. I dont
remember much of that, but eventually we went
back to our new apartment while Daddy went
to buy something sweet and cold that big kids
and grownups eat. And then someone knocked
on the door, and they handed us some food!
I dont eat that kind of food, of course, but it
seemed pretty nice that it just showed up. I had
my dinnermy usualwhile Fiona, Daddy, and
Mama ate theirs and watched something with lots
of colors and sounds. Then I went to sleep in my
new bed.
The next day we went outside again, and
there was a ton of that white stuff everywhere.
I mean, it just seemed to go on and on. I could
see it out the side of my stroller as we went
around town. I was perfectly cozy, of course, but
Mama, Daddy, and Fiona didnt seem quite as
comfortable. But that meant that we stopped in at
a few interesting places, like one place with giant
tables where they got something hot to drink,
and another place with lots of pictures hanging
on the walls. That was a pretty neat place. I slept,
of course.
After a while, we went back to the train
station and got back on a train to go home. It was
an interesting experience. Its kind of weird that I
slept in that bed just the one time, and I havent
seen it again since. But its okay, I think, because
it was so nice to come home to the place I know
best. d
COLIN
Colins baby blessing
COLINTRACKER
GIVEN BY DUSTIN TYLER JOYCE | SUNDAY, 2 FEBRUARY 2014

BUSHWICK FIRST BRANCH, BROOKLYN NEW YORK STAKE
TOOTHTRACKER
UPPER
RIGHT
LEFT
So far,
teeth.
But were
sure hell
have some
someday.
LOWER
TRAVELTRACKER
Colin and Dustin with those who participated in his blessing in front of our church building at
185 Marcy Avenue, Brooklyn.
CHRISTINA KIM HOMER | 10.13 EST, 2 FEBRUARY 2014
ur Father in Heaven, by the

authority of the Melchizedek
Priesthood, we bring this child
into our arms to give him a name and a
blessing. The name we give him is Colin
Everett Joyce.
Colin, you have been born into a
family that loves you. You have parents
who have testimonies of the gospel of Jesus
Christ and who were sealed in the temple
by proper priesthood authority. Because
of that, you have been born into an eternal
familya family whose goal is, like your
Father in Heavens, to help you be happy in
this life and to gain eternal life and joy.
We bless you as you grow up that
you will develop properly physically and
mentally and spiritually.
We bless you with the knowledge that
your body is a temple where the Holy Ghost
can dwell if you are obedient to Heavenly
Fathers commandments.
We bless you that you will be curious
about the world around you, that you will
enjoy learning and exploring and seeing

new things and that as you do so you will
gain understanding and knowledge that
will help you in your life as you serve your
family and as you serve in the Church and
as you serve others.
Above all, Colin, we bless you with
the knowledge that your Heavenly Father
is real, that he loves you. We bless you that
you will be able to gain a testimony of our
Savior, Jesus Christ. We bless you that you
will be eager to learn of his life and his
ministry and to follow his example in your
own life. We bless you that you will be able
to be ordained to the priesthood and go
to the temple and make covenants there
and that you will have the opportunity to
be a missionary and teach others the truth
that you know. And we bless you that in all
things you will follow the example of your
Savior.
We love you very much, and we leave
these blessings with you in the name of
Jesus Christ, amen. d
2 STATES
New York
2 January 2014
Connecticut
17 February 2014
FIRSTTRACKER
Goodnight (family singing, scripture
study, and prayer before bed)
3 January 2014
I Am a Child of God; Alma 25:16; at
New York Methodist Hospital, room 5S22B
Visit to Juniors restaurant, Brooklyn
1 February 2014
Train trip
17 February 2014
On a Metro-North train from Grand Central
to New Haven, Connecticut
Time off an island and out of New York
City and New York State
17 February 2014
13
Revelee, on the bannister, with

her mother and siblings, 1921.
TRANSCRIBED BY DUSTIN
RECORDED & EDITED BY SUSAN
14
At a springtime memorial service in

Oregon, the Hibdons remembered their
mother, grandmother, aunt, and matriarch
in the way only the Hibdons could.
APRIL 2014
15
SATURDAY, 12 APRIL 2014

BANKS, OREGON
Deborah Deegan:
o, Im Deborah, Revelees granddaughter. Dolores is my mother. And I
want to thank everyone for coming here to honor her today. On the back of the
program is a poem that kind of reminded me of her [see right]. So I put that on
because she just loved everything about nature. But one of the things thatTheres a line
towards the bottom that says a part of us went with you. And it was myits my opinion and
my experience that Grandma Revelee left a lot more with me in hera lot of memories, her
attitudes, and her character traits that have served all of her children, grandchildren, greatgrandchildren very, very well. And today we have an opportunity to celebrate and share and
deepen our knowledge of her and each other and share stories.
David Hibdon: So, I was told it would be

nice if I talked a little bit about Mothers life.
And among the things I want to make sure
we emphasize is that life was a lot tougher
in 1920 than it is now. And it was tougher in
some places than it was in others. Mother
was born in 1920, the youngest of nine
children. And before she turned two years
old, her father at planting time on the
rented farm died of pneumonia. Now, she
had older brothers that were old enough
to help with the work, and they tried to
make a go of it on that rented farm for two
or three more years. But, it was a tough go,
and the older boys needed to go and get
jobs and make families of their own. Anna
May got married at about 14 and was gone.
So within three or four years, Grandmother
Lee was taking care of four kids by herself,
the oldest being about 13 years old, and the
youngest being my mom, at 5. And over
the course of the next few years, as they
wandered from rented farm to a job in
Larkas my mom described it, a big yellow
house by the water tower. She showed it to
me. By then it was 65, 75 years later, and the
house was white. But it was still there, next
to the water tower in Lark. And they lived
there while her mom did housekeeping for
somebody for a while.
Then they moved to western
Oklahoma, to a townto the Martin ranch.
About that time, her oldest brother was
working for Mr. Martin. The Martin ranch
was comprised of three farms, and Mr.
Martin ran one and his son ran one and my
uncle Sterling ran the chicken farm. My
mom was 8 years old and she talked to me
many times about how proud she was that
when she was 8 years old and none of the
Martin kids were allowed around any of
the animals or equipment, she got to drive
the water wagonthe water wagon being
a wagon that carried water, and Im not
sure exactly how it worked, but I do know
16
that she was supposed to keep this wagon

going at a steady pace while her big brother
watered the chickens. And she was also very
pleased with being able to run the go devil.
Now this go devil is like a small harrow that
digs about two rows. Do you know what a
harrow is? Its like a bunch of, like, railroad
spikes driven in some logs, and it was made
so that it would crumple up the dirt and kill
the weeds between the rows and then had
boards behind it, it would push up the dirt
up around the rows of whatever crop youre
trying to protect. And she got to drive that
when she was 8 years old. She was very
impressed with herself.
But ultimately, you know, the
economy got the better of Mr. Martin.
And my uncle Sterling went away with Mr.
Martins youngest daughter, Debbie, who
came to parent several of my cousins. And
my momby that time, Herbert had left
when he was about 14and my mom and
Lola and Herman went with their mom to,
I think, Shamrock, Texas, and Herman left
from there and moved to New Mexico and
started working in a dairy and boarding in
a boarding house when he was 14. And by
that time they were left with just Lola and
Revelee.
And Grandmother Lee still kept trying
to make it on her own. And there was a lot
of pressure of course for the kids to be gone
from the household, because it was tough
for one person to support three people in
those days, especially if she was a woman.
So Lola got married when she was 13 and
that didnt work out very well. Lola, I guess,
and certainly my grandmother Lee both
agreed that this guy was not the right guy.
So when he proposed to move Lola and
him out of Denver and go to Kansas City,
grandmother Lee said, Well, you know,
my sister in Ninnekah (in Oklahoma) has
told me that they have a job for me there.
Could it be possibleI think its a great
God looked around his garden

And found an empty place,
He then looked down upon the earth
And saw your tired face.
He put his arms around you
And lifted you to rest.
Gods garden must be beautiful
He always takes the best.
He knew that you were suffering
He knew you were in pain.
He knew that you would never
Get well on earth again.
He saw the road was getting rough
And the hills were hard to climb.
So he closed your weary eyelids
And whispered, Peace be Thine.
It broke our hearts to lose you
But you didnt go alone,
For part of us went with you
The day God called you home.
author unknown
This is the poem on the back of the

program that Deborah referenced
at the beginning of the service.
idea for you and Lola to go to Kansas City

would it be possible for you to drop us off
in Ninnekah? And I assume Wilson Orr
was happy to drop his mother-in-law off
anyway.
So they got to Ninnekah, and Mother
had two older cousins that were probably
in their early 20s. And when they got to
Ninnekahweve got pictures of the family
gathering. Everybody. Wilson Orr was in
the pictures. But he didnt stay overnight
the first night. My mother told me that
[inaudible] and her little brotherI cant
remember his little brothers nametook
him aside and persuaded him that this is
a tough country for people that had had a
reputation for potential white slavery. We
did hear you were investigated by the FBI
in Denver, and, you know, Im not sure if
I were you that Id want to go to sleep in
this country because you might not wake
up. So, needless to say, Wilson kept on
goingno doubt went to Kansas City with
somebody, but not with Lola.
And that was kind of the story of their
lives. Shortly thereafter the three of them
went to New Mexico and thats where Lola
met Charles Jimerson and she got married
when she was 14. I dont think she was more
than 15 when Doyle was born, was she?
Something in that order.
Anyway, so, by the time 1931 rolled
around, Mother Lee was getting tired.
Shed been taking these nitroglycerin pills
for a long time. She had a definite heart
problem. And so she went back to Lark,
where her oldest daughter was living. Thats
Anna May. And they hadnt been there
more than a year and a halfmy mom was
not quite 13when her mom died. And,
as she put it, Well, people say she had a
stroke. All I knowall my mama knew
at the time she was talking to meis that
she had this stroke, and then she lived for
another day or day and a half, and she didnt
know anybody during that time except
me. So my mama was 12 years old and her
mama was dying and the only person that
her mama could talk to was her, because
everybody else was not relevant any more.
So then Mother lived with aunt Anna
May for about 3 years and thats where she
got this sister relationship with her niece
Jackie, who was less than 4 years younger
than her. And she went to Whitfield High
School, I remember her telling me, and she
played basketball on the Whitfield High
School basketball team with the freshmen.
And then, for one reason or anotherI
cant remember the rationaleshe had to
Revelee, Grandmother Lee, and Lola on

Easter Sunday 1926 in Shamrock, Texas.
17
Revelee and Cecil Hibdons

first date, 1936.
18
transfer to Kingston High School, and she

wasnt really that happy about it. But she
was ready to start playing basketball.
But then in the fall this guy came
around. He lived just down the road about
half a mile. She had just turned 16 and he
had just turned 26. And he brought his
brother along for moral support, along
with his brothers girlfriend, Estelle. And
weve got pictures of them. Im not sure if
it was their first date, but on your discs the
pictures are labeled first date because they
reflected the story my mother told me. She
was sitting there thinking she was a little
high-school sophomore and, you know, a
basketball player, and this grown man came
around courting. And it didnt take much
longer after that before she and this grown

man were married. And they probably
didnt live together more than maybe 20
years at the most. But they never did get
settled. The discussion they started out
with was about where they were going to
live. My dad wanted to live near his family
in Oklahoma. And my mom wanted to live
nearer her family, which was spread out
more or less across California. California
was the land of opportunity. Daddys oldest
sister had settled down earliest and stayed
pretty much where they grew up. But
everybody else had to move because Lake
Texoma took all the land they were farming,
so they all moved together to Oklahoma
City, and after that none of the siblings ever
lived more than 10 miles from the others,
except him in California and his big sister
in ... So, anyway, they really never got that
issue settled and ultimately it drove them
apart, and my dad ended up going back to
Oklahoma and getting run over by a truck
in 1958. And after thatyou know, it wasnt
very long before I graduated from high
school and left. And Mother had settled an
insurance claim for problem people like
her. And she could afford to buy a little
house and she got a job. And that started,
I think, what was the happiest part of her
life. Her first generation of grandchildren
were born. And she was hanging around
Bakersfield most of the time to watch them
grow up, until she started following Dolores
and Deborah aroundand I think Dolores
or Deborah could tell us about that part of
the story.
But one big thing I do want to add is
that as my mama, my mother, matured,
she became a very different person. She
still had the same basic attitudes, but she
became better at expressing them, and by
the time she started losing her memory and
all she had left was attitude, the attitude she
had was that she was the kind of person that
deserved respect, that she was the kind of
person that anybody ought to like, and she
made sure that everybody liked her and she
made sure that everybody respected her.
And the peopleshe didnt have anything
left but attitudeall the people that took
care of her at that nursing home loved her.
You cant say that about very many other
people. The good news about her is she
didnt whine, she told people what she
wanted and what she didnt want. But if you
treated her right, you could persuade her to
reconsider.
Charlane Leslie: Oh, not always!
DH: Not always. But I rememberyou

know, she got so sick that she couldnt eat,
didnt want to eat, couldnt do anything.
She could not remember how to stand up:
she was strong enough, but she couldnt
remember how. And all this happened
within a week or so. And I remember she
was really, really sick, and she woke up one
morning and I got there to see her, and this
woman, Rachel, had awakened her and
got her all cleaned up and ready to go to
breakfast. She said, I think I should stay
here. So Rachel fed her in bed, and she ate
a big breakfast, and she finished everything
she was supposed to eat, she drank
everything she was supposed to drink, and
she looked at Rachel and she said, I need a
hug. And she gave her a hug and she said,
I love you. And then she gave me a hug
and said, I love you. And then Rachel
said, Well, Ill be back to see you in the
afternoon. First Mother said, Well, I need
to go to sleep. And so Rachel said, Ill be
back to see you in the afternoon. And I
said, Well, Mother, have a good nap. And
she squeezed my hand and smiled a little
bit and went to sleep. And about 38 hours
later her heart quit beating but she never
woke up.
My belief is that that whole thing
about eating the big breakfast and drinking
everything she was supposed to drink was
going out in style.
DD: Well, I probably was blessed with
spending more time with Grandma than
most of the grandchildrendefinitely a
lot more than the Hibdon grandchildren,
just by geographic proximity to her. But
probably even more than thatI realized
this probably even more as an adult, when
you kind of look back you dont think
about some things as a childbut, Im not
necessarily sure that Grandma chased my
mom around near so much asI mean,
I think there was some of that. But there
was also an awful lot of Grandma getting
all settled in a house, us going to visit,
and it was Grandmas house, Grandmas
house. And all of the sudden us moving in
with Grandma. Six months later Grandma
would move out and head for Texas or to
Oklahoma or something. Anybody whos
lived with my mom probably doesnt need
much of an explanation as to why that
might be.
But Grandma always stayed very
connected. I think she was always
concerned, maybe, about how my mom was
doing. My mom was married and divorced a
Revelee with all her grandchildren, Christmas 1985.

standing: Diana Seibert. back row: Revelee, Ellen Hibdon (in lap), Mitch Seibert, Martin Hibdon.
on floor, left to right: Karen Hibdon, Susan Hibdon, Nicholas Seibert, Theresa Krier (Drake),
Deborah Deegan.
number of times. And so what I remember
is my mom being married, and when she
wasnt, it was Grandma, you know, taking
care of us more or less. And my mom would
get married again and Grandma would be
gone for a while visiting everybody else
and loving on everybody else. And my
mom would get divorced and there was
Grandma, you know.
So Grandma was around to teach
me a lot of things. I remember her talking
an awful lot about her job and about the
various jobs that she had. And I know
that she took a great deal of pride in, one,
doing what was considered a mans job at
any given point in time. I mean, I think
she at times felt like she had to fight for
the opportunity to sell sporting goods and
convince people that she knew every bit
as much about guns or fishing equipment
or things along those lines as any salesman
would, as she used to put it. But she had a
great work ethic, and I remember talking
to her an awful lot about that. And when I
was a young employee and first becoming
the manager, sometimes I would have, you
know, some issues that I would talk about,
and she always had an opinion. And not
all of her jobs worked out well. I mean, I

agree with David that she kind of learned
some smoother ways of dealing with
people, especially on the workforce, as she
got older. But she was invaluable to me in
helping me with showing up and doing a
good job.
But Im very appreciative for
Grandma taking care of me and always
being available, and the things that she
taught me and reading to me and the love of
books. And I remember being jealous as a
kid because I was hearing about all of these
great letters she was writing about these
birds and stuff like thatthe little mother
bird who was taking care of her babies
outside the window. [Susan: She named
one of them Alexander. She wrote us letters
about that little bird family.] And I think I
was much older before I really realized what
I had in Grandma comparatively. Im like,
She loved them more?! You know. Its funny
how, when youre a child, you dont really
see the full, big picture.
But she wasnt always the easiest
of grandmas. She definitely wasnt a
storybook, milk-and-cookies kind of a
person. But, boy, shed curl up with a good
19
Revelee working at the Naval Exchange on

Treasure Island, San Francisco Bay, around 1965.
20
bookWizard of Oz and old westerns and

stuff like that. And we spent a lot of time
doing things like that and playing cards. She
was pretty tremendous. I appreciate it.
DH: Can I add one more thing? The best
job that she ever hadI think, at least
from my understanding of how much she
appreciated itwas selling cameras and
guns at the Naval Exchange on Treasure
Island. And I remember talking to one of
the guys that used to flirt with her andshe
had pictures of him, and they lived in the
same apartment complex for a whileI
think maybe with Deborah and Dolores
but I remember talking to him one time
and I said, I suppose its an advantage,
you know, if youre a good-looking fortyish
woman to sell cameras to teenage boys.
And he said, I suppose the reason she can
sell more cameras and guns than anybody
else is because she knows more about
cameras and guns than anybody else.
DD: But she had to prove it, you know. She
always said she
DH: Well, she had to prove it to the boss,
but she didnt have to prove it to the people
who were buying them. Because if you
know enough to be buying a gun, you ought
to know enough to understand whether the
person whos selling them to you gets it.
Diana Seibert: I remember her stories
about Vincents. When I would go to
Vincents, a sporting-goods store in
Bakersfield where she sold all the guns
and fishing poles and the actors would
come from L.A. up to buy them and
they would always ask for the manyou
know, they wanted Mr. Vincent. And Mr.
Vincent would say, No, you need to talk
to Revelee. And she could talk fishing
polesany kind of fishing poles. She could
talk any kind of guns. I remember being
in the store all the time; she would just
reach in that case, pull out the gun, show
them how to take it apart. I mean, she was
just awesome. I would be in there and she
would be helping a customer and although
there were two other guys in there, that
they would wait in line for her. And they
would wait behind the one she was helping
when she was taking apart the guns and
showing them the guns. So that was pretty
neat when I was a kid.
Mitch Seibert: Well, you remember, you
know, dad, when we had a lot of family
gatherings over, right, and there would be

a lot of talk about Hibdons talk and stuff
like that. And I was always intrigued by it.
I always thought it was great. But my dad
didnt always have a lot of patience for that
stuff. But the one thing that would keep him
sticking around and talking, I remember,
was we would talk guns with Grandma.
Wed talk for hours about that.
DD: Well, she did have a lot of respect
from all of the guys that came through the
Naval Exchange. She used to bring people
home all the time, especially around, like,
holidays, or she sensed somebody was
lonely or there was something going on in
their life. You just never knew who she was
going to bring home for dinnera lot of
young servicemen.
DH: I just threw away a bunch of Christmas
cards and, you know, I-remember-you
cards and that kind of stuff from all kinds
of officers at every level up to captain and,
you know, the most junior sailor that ever
walked through Treasure Island.
DS: So, do you know the story about some
kind of sheik that came over on a ship
and went toand I dont know if it was
Treasure Island or if he drove all the way
to Bakersfield. I think he knew her from
Treasure Island? And then, I dont know,
some kind of massive ship and, anyway,
cameI think it was Bakersfield he came to
see her.
DH: I dont know that story. But the thing
that impressed me was all these people
thatpeople that she worked with at
Treasure Island and people that were
customers at Treasure Island were still
sending her cards 10 years later. I dont
knowI mean, I used to remember the
names of some of them. I met several of
them. But, anyway, she got better with age.
She was a holy terror when I was a little guy.
DD: Oh, yeah, she was a good shot.
Unknown: She was always proud of that.
DH: Yeah, I think this is a pretty good story.
We showed up at my grandfathers house.
We thought he was going to die. We drove
all the way out from California to watch
Granddaddy Hibdon die. And we got there
and my youngest uncle was probablyI
was 6, I guess, so my youngest uncle was
about 12, and he had been instructed that
when it was time to let the chickens out he

was supposed to grab that one gray, broody
henyou know, the one that being broody
all the time, hiding her eggsand keep her
in the pen. And he forgot, so he let all the
chickens loose. And the broody chicken
was chosen because she was hiding her
eggsyou know, you cant keep a chicken
like that. And you got to eat something. So
when my grandmother found out todays
dinner is wandering around the yard, she
asked Martin, my youngest uncle, to go get
the rifle. And he brought a single-shot, .22
rifle and my grandmother said, Revelee,
youre the best shot here. You kill the
chickens. And the chicken was not more
thanprobably a little more than halfway
to that gray car, and my mama shot it
stood up like this and[gun sound]shot
its head off. And I was very impressed.
Shortly after that, weeverybody in
the familygot involved in a contest about
shooting off Prince Alberts head. There
used to be these red tobacco cans. And,
you know, if you set them off half as far as
hereyou know, I can hardly see the can.
My mother never missed the head. And she
was clearly the best shot at that time that
she had ever met. And she probably hadnt
had a gun in her hands for 5 or 6 years
before that. Oh, no, more than thatlonger
than before I was born, and I was 6.
DD: I have a fishing story. Since she knew
so much about that kind of stuff. SoI
dont know if we want to do stories out
here. Is everybody comfortable or freezing?
John Deegan: I do have one thing to say
about this just before we end. I remember
driving with Grandma, just driving with
her wherever. I mean, whether it was
Forest Grove or whether it was just down
the road. And the beautiful thing was that
she noticed trees. She just said, Thats a
beautiful tree. Those are great flowers. But
you could not go by a white house without
her saying, Thats a nice house. And if you
came across anotheryou go through a
million houses, but when you came across
a white house, Thats a nice house. I just
remembered that if it was white, it was
something about it. I just remembered that.
DH: She really liked the big white house in
Lark.
JD: She did. Just something about the
white. SoI was really blessed with
knowing her, in a lot of ways. And one of
21
DH: How about we just put it in the

ground
JD: Okay, lets both do it at the same time.
DH: and kick some dirt in it.
DD: There we go.
Martin, my youngest uncle brought a single-shot, .22 rifle and my

grandmother said, Revelee, youre the best shot here. You kill the
chickens. And the chicken was not more thanprobably a little more
than halfway to that gray car, and my mama shot itstood up like
this and[gun sound]shot its head off. And I was very impressed.
DAVID HIBDON
REVELEES SON
& SUSANS FATHER
DS: Where did the box come from, Deb?

DD: Grandma picked it out.
DS: Beautiful.
JD: So, you got to kick the dirt in it? Is
that
DH: Im going to start. Whoa! Okay!
[Susan: Note the pomp and ceremony
involved here, and imagine David Hibdon
trying to kick dirt into a hole. This might be
the point that he almost fell in.]
DS: Do you want to put it in with your
hands and not your feet?
the commonalities that we had was music.

And when her memory started to go just
a little bit moreyou could start asking
her about some music, and shed start
singing Strawberry Roan or Pecos Bill
or one of these songs. I think we recorded
it somewhere down the road. And it was
just such a beautiful thing to listen to her, a
capella, sing these old country songs. And
DS: And she wasnt afraid to do it. You
know? She wasnt afraid to do it in front of a
group like this. Shed just break out singing.
JD: So she and I had thisI think when
me and Deb first metwe had kind of this
loggerhead thing going on. She was the
grandma. But, as David said, I think you had
to just give her that respect. She was just,
That was her place, that was cool, but hey,
Im me. I have a little issue here. And in
due time we actually had a great bond and
Im very privileged to have known her.
DS: Could be you both had an ornery
streak, but I dont know.
CL: Id just like toId just like to talk
aboutyou know, when my sister and I
were growing up, and Lois and David
during those times that they were in
California. I dont know how many times
22
they were in California and how many times

in Oklahoma. But the times they were in
California that Aunt Revelee and Lois and
David and Dolores would come over to the
house we had in Green Acres and she would
read to us. And her drama and the voice
and so on that in reading these stories to
us, I mean, it really developed for me a love
for reading. And, actually, I think as I got
older it gave me the way to dramatize things
because, you know, I was one of the little
scared kids, but Aunt Revelee gave me that
power. And you know, I became a lawyer
when I was 39 years old. And I know a lot
of it was the encouragement and just the
example that my Aunt Revelee set.
DD: I dont think we made a provision as
to when we were going to do that sodo
this partI didnt really build that into my
agenda. We can do the closing prayer. But
we have this issue here.
JD: Whats the issue?
DD: Well, whether we were going to do this
now or later. I mean, with everybody here
or later. We didnt really
[Susan: This issue was the box of ashes,
which was supposed to go in a lovely hole
next to a lovely tree.]
DD: Well, traditions. It depends. You know,

some people do, some people dont.
JD: He has the right to do whatever he
wants.
MS: Theres a shovel, theres a shovel.
DH: Oh, there we go!
Jenna Kisor: I think it is tradition to
[Susan: Jenna, I think, was the one who got
things rolling with each person tossing in a
handful of dirt.]
DD: Yeah, people, if they want to can do
that,.
JD: So, were talking about picking a spot
on the property somewhere and David
and I walked around a little this morning
and we looked around andthere you
go!and he really just said, This is it. This
old hawthorne tree thats out in the middle
ofshe loved trees, and it seemed like a
good spot.
DS: You know, I should probably do it from
this side.
DH: Im not really very good at ceremony,
am I?
DD: Apparently neither am I.
Mama Lee kills

the neighbors hogs
MS: Youre still going to need a shovel.

DH: Yeah, I know!
[Susan: At this point it seemed like the dirt
was taken care of, but perhaps not .]
DD: Im going to close us in a very short
prayer.
DS: Oh, sorry, Deb.
DD: Sorry.
DS: I can hand you this.
DD: Oh, sorry.
CL: Thats okay.
Jimmie Lee: Id get a big bunch.
[Susan: Jimmie Lee picked out the biggest
dirt clod, probably a good eight inches in
diameter, and rolled it into the hole.]
DH: Oh, thats it!
JD: Youre actually related to David!
JL: I want to do one more. That one right
there!
[Susan: One final dirt clod, and we were
ready for a prayer.]
DD: You know, I think competition is a
family trait.
Shall we bow our head in short prayer?
Heavenly Father, we thank you for
blessing us all with earthly life and the gift
of Revelee, for her 93 years. We treasure
every memory of love, joy, knowledge, and
sorrow shared with us. We thank you for
her life and for her death and for the rest
she now has in you through our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Alright, back up to the house, where
its warm!
This is a story I typed up a few years back when Mother was reminding me of all her childhood
stories. I printed it and several shorter ones for her reminder book when she went into the
skilled nursing center.
The story was confirmed for me by my Fathers sister Hazel about 2002. I think it might help
people understand Mother to know about where she came from.
Mothers father died in 1922 before Mother
turned two years old. Over the next several
years life was pretty hard for the Lee family.
During the first few of those years, Sterling
[Revelees older brother] was married
but still around, living close and helping
out when he could. Mama Lee [Revelees
mother] and her brood stayed in the Lark,
Oklahoma, area through the mid 20s. Pleas
was in his teens and could do the plowing.
About 1924, the family had some
trouble with a neighbors hogs. Oklahoma
was a modified free-range state in those
days. During normal cropping seasons,
animals were required to be penned up. But
during the winter, hogs were turned loose
to forage in the forests and fallow ground.
They were all marked with ear cuts that
were registered like cattle brands. That way
they could be identified when gathered up
in the spring or at hog butchering time in
the late fall.
But some people, like Roy Youngs
dad, may have interpreted the laws a little
loosely. Or maybe the Youngs just had a
weak hog pen. One spring morning the
Lees woke up to find the dogs barking up a
storm and the Youngs hogs in the cornfield.
They had rooted up about a quarter acre of
corn that had been a few inches high. Mama
Lee, Pleas, and the other big kids joined
the dogs in rousting the hogs. Then Mama
went down to have a talk with Mr. Young.
Mr. Young told her that he would see they
did not escape again.
A day or two after the corn was
replanted, it happened againanother
patch was rooted up. Mama Lee went back
to the Youngs and explained the obvious,
that she had nothing to feed her children
that did not come from the crops she could

raise. She encouraged Mr. Young to keep his
hogs penned up, reminding him that there
was only one way she could keep them out
of her corn once they were loose.
They came back again. Mama, and the
family, got them out of the fields and onto
the road. Pleas, who was about nineteen
then, said he was going to talk to Young
this time. But Mama said no. She said the
Youngs would surely kill him if he did what
needed to be done.
So Mama Lee got a rifle and took the
dogs to drive the hogs back to the Young
place. She drove the hogs the few hundred
yards to the Youngs front yard, ran them
into the yard, and then shot all four, while
the Young family sat, or stood, on the front
porch.
The Youngs spent the next few days
in some early hog butchering. Naturally
Mr. Young was displeased with the lack
of expected growth, and with butchering
during a hot season. That probably caused
a lot more wastage than would have been
normal with late fall butchering. Besides,
and maybe more important, he did not like
being shown up by a woman.
Mr. Young talked some. But his words
did not mean much to Mama Lee. Mamas
married daughter Anna May Dodd lost
a cow a few weeks laterto a sudden,
unexplained death by gun shot. And of
course they did not find out in time to
butcher. The Lees suspected a purposeful
shooting. But no one was admitting
anything.
It is hard to say who won that battle.
But at least it did not turn into a war, and
the Lees did not starve. david hibdon
DH: You know what? My mom would really

love this dirt.
Susan: I was thinking the same thing! Thats
really nice dirt! d
23
F RO M O U R A RCH I V ES
sunday,
26 november 2000
A journal entry
from the month
I received my
mission call
reveals the
mixed emotions
of that day
and the Spirits
confirmation that
I was going where
the Lord wanted
me to go.
OPPOSITE PAGE
Dustins mission call.
(Yes, we have printed
this once before in our
magazine, in the January
2013 issue, but it was
reduced in size. This is
Dustins mission call at its
actual size.)
RIGHT
The original journal
entry.
Receiving the call

BY DUSTIN
It is with a little trepidation that I print this. Becoming

reacquainted with your younger self is often an
embarrassing experience as you grimace at your
bravado, navet, and know-it-all nature. Some of the
worst of that has been edited out of this version. Also,
some slight stylistic changes have been made.
GOT MY MISSION CALL!!! It actually
came about three weeks ago, on Friday,
3 November, but Ive been VERY bad, of
course, and have not been writing in my journal like I
should, and thats why Im only now mentioning it.
It came while I was at work. Mom and Randy
were going to to go Hilton Head [South Carolina]
that day to be with Randys family as his mother
was in the hospital. (Im not sure why she was in the
hospital.) Anyway, because they were getting ready to
go, mom was home from work and was able to bring
my call up to me [at work].1 She also brought sweet
little Miss Katie [our dog] along.
We went up to Independence
Park to open the call. We parked
at a [medical] office at the corner
of North Caswell Road and
Greenway Avenue, and we walked
over to a beautiful area at the
corner of Hawthorne Lane and
East Seventh Street with an arbor
and a no-longer-used waterfall
and pool that are a memorial to
a young woman who gave her
life in rescuing a child from a
waterfall in the [North Carolina]
mountains.
Normally you can see a
beautiful view of Charlottes
skyline from that location in
Independence Park, but it was
obscured by smoke from forest fires in the North
Carolina mountainssadly, in Linville Gorge2that
had been carried by the wind down to the piedmont.
Those were a couple of very strange days; I had never
before seen in person the effects of a natural disaster.
As I sit here now thinking about that smoke, it almost
seems very appropriate that I opened by mission
call in such conditions, for on my mission I will be
helping clear the smoke that obscures the vision
of the truth from the eyes of those whom I will be
teaching.
I offered a prayer before I opened the call,
telling our Heavenly Father of our thankfulness for
the opportunity I have to serve a mission, and also
asking him to bless us that we may be able to know
that wherever I was assigned was the place he wanted

me to go. Little did I ever dream that I would really
need to rely upon that confirming spirit, for this is the
place that I have been assigned to serve my mission:
Utah Salt Lake City South

Mission
Yes, thats right: I will serve in the Churchs Utah Salt
Lake City South Mission. I am to report to the MTC
[Missionary Training Center] in Provo [Utah] on
Wednesday, 17 January 2001. Dont misunderstand
me: theres nothing wrong with the Utah Salt Lake
City South Mission. Its just that [] everyone, myself
included, was expecting me to go foreign. But one of
the first thoughts to enter my mind was this:
So often we work up in our
minds this idea about what
would be best for us. I know
that Ive done that many
times in my own life, such
as what dog would be best
for me, what job would be
best for me, and, yes, what
type of mission assignment
would be best for me. So
often, what the Lord blesses
us with is nothing like that
perfect idea wed worked
up in our own minds.
But always, if we accept
the Lords will over our
own, the blessings we will
receive will be far above and
beyond what we could have
imagined. I know that such will be the case
with my mission call.
That thought was the main focus of my acceptance
letter, which I finally got signed and ready to send in
today.
I also realized a few things about my desire to
go foreign. First of all, if I were going foreign, Id
probably focus on the architecture, the language,
the culture, the history, and so forth, not the work
that Im really there to do. Further, I really feel that
I wanted to go foreign only so I could brag about
it. Then again, in a way, I am going foreign. I mean,
come on: Salt Lake City can be a pretty foreign place
to a good ol Southern boy like me. Further, I can still
25
above
Dustins letter to the First Presidency,
accepting his call to serve in the
Utah Salt Lake City South Mission.
opposite page
Dustin in front of the Provo
Missionary Training Center shortly
before he started his mission on
Wednesday, 17 January 2001.
26
kind of brag about it. How many Mormon

missionaries go to Salt Lake City? (A lot,
I know, but Im trying to make a point,
okay?)
That first weekend, and, well, even
all that first week, and, well, even now
Im still almost expecting another letter to
come telling me where Im really going.
And for a couple of reasons. First, with all
the speculation people have had over the
past couple of years about where Ill be
going, it almost feels like that letter was
just someone else telling me where they
thought I was going to be going. Okay, so
maybe that person was President [Gordon
B.] Hinckley, but, you know: it doesnt
really feel like its binding. Second, it would
have been more believable had it been a
place like Zimbabwe or Tahiti. I mean,
come on: how many Mormon missionaries
go to Salt Lake City? Also, Brigham
Young did always say that God has a good
sense of humor, and you never know when
he may feel like playing a joke.
But I know that the Spirit was there
when I opened my call. Ive felt that
confirming whisper telling me that Salt
Lake truly is the place for me. And Ive
thought of many advantages of going there.
Foremost in many peoples minds is the
fact that the 2002 Olympic Winter Games
will occur there about halfway through my
mission. And who knows: I may be at the
far edge of Summit County, Utah,3 during
the two weeks or so of the Olympics,
but I may be right there in the middle of
everything, and it may be there that I have
the opportunity to use my knowledge of
foreign languages and cultures.4
Also, being in the United States, I
shouldnt have to worry about unsanitary
living conditions. I wont have to worry
about obtaining vaccinations and visas. And
I shouldnt have to worry about having to
eat strange food. Though Utahns love of
Jell-O with who knows what in it is a little
strange (Everyone keeps on telling me
that I can expect to eat Jell-O with carrots
in it.)5
Another advantage in going to Utah
is the large Mormon population. Ive
been told that people will often go up to
missionaries in the grocery store or in a
restaurant and offer to pay their bills for
them. As missionaries are walking down the
street, people will often offer them rides.
Thats really cool. Also, Brother Griffiths in
Carmel Ward served part of his mission in
the Salt Lake City North Mission.6 He said
that they didnt go tracting there, but that
everything was done through member referrals. And

though they frequently laugh at me me when I tell
them where Im goingSister Cope in Carmel Ward
even told me to shut up7they also frequently tell
me that the Utah Salt Lake City South Mission is
one of the highest-baptising missions in the world
because of the large LDS population and that Ill have
a great time.8
One thought Ive had is that either they send the
best missionaries to Salt Lake City because they can
do something that even millions9 of Mormons there
cant do or they send the worst missionaries to Salt
Lake City to keep a close eye on them. Im probably
among the latter. I can just see one of the General
Authorities watching me through a telescope on the
twenty-sixth floor of the Church Office Building and
listening to me with a long-range listening device.
Ive been hard at work telling everyone where
Im going. Like I said, they laugh at me at church
when I tell them where Im going. Nonmembers are
often perplexed as to why missionaries would be
sent to Utah, especially to Salt Lake. The one thing
that has bothered me is some people think that Im
disappointed. Im not. Its where God wants me to go.
Im just grateful to have the opportunity to go on a
mission. I cant wait!
Ever since I received my call, it feels as if time
has been sped up. I can hardly believe that its been
three weeks since it came. Then again, it feels as if
Ive always known. In all those times I joked around
about getting called to Salt Lake City on a mission, I
never thought that it would really happen. But, it has,
and I couldnt be happier. I just hope that I can do
the things that I want to do before I leave, and that in
the short time I have left that Ill be able to prepare
myself as I should; that Ill be able to buy the things
that I need; that Ill be able to read the things that I
should read; that Ill keep myself on the straight and
narrow. I hope that I can prepare well for my open

house and farewell.
You know, I dont think Ill ever care about what
I receive in the mail again. I mean, what I just got is
the most important thing Ill ever get in the mail, so
its all downhill from here.10 And on that happy note
Ill end. d
NOTES
1. I was working at my very first job, as an administrative
assistant at Charlotte Pipe and Foundrys headquarters
on Randolph Road in Charlotte, Specifically, my office was
located in the building at 2039 Randolph Road, at the north
corner of Randolph Road and North Chase Street.
2. I had visited Linville Gorge a few years earlier on a ward
Scout camping trip and had fallen in love with the unique
beauty of Linville Falls and the rugged gorge beyond.
3. As I somewhat incorrectly pointed out in the original
journal entry, at the time I served in the Utah Salt Lake
City South Mission it covered the south half of the Salt
Lake Valley, from around 4500 South (give or takethe
boundary was not a straight line) to Point of the Mountain
and from the Wasatch Mountains on the east to the
Oquirrh Mountains on the west. It also covered Summit
County to the east, including the towns of Park City, Kamas,
and Coalville. But (see next footnote).
4. I never served in Summit County. There were at most four
companionships serving there at a time and, of those, two
were sister missionaries working in part at the Family Tree
Center on Main Street in Park City while another set were

Spanish-speaking missionaries. And, seriously, who was I
kiddingknowledge of foreign languages and cultures? I
didnt know nearly as much about them as I thought I did.
5. For the record, I was served Jell-O at most half a dozen
times throughout the two years of my mission. Which is
good, because Im not a fan. Though even I have to admit
that some Utahns Jell-O creations are spectacular.
6. The official name of this mission is the Utah Salt Lake City
Mission, but many people refer to it as the north mission
to distinguish it from the Utah Salt Lake City South Mission
(and, these many years later, the other missions in the Salt
Lake Valley, including the Central, East, and West missions).
7. This was a friendly comment and not a rude one.
8. All of this, I learned on my mission, is pretty much true.
9. Its actually not quite millions. More like, hundreds of
thousands.
10. In all honesty, Ive cared plenty of times since then about
what I get in the mail. Everyone, especially in todays world
saturated by electronic media, likes receiving cool stuff in
the mail.
The one thing that

has bothered me
is some people
think that Im
disappointed.
Im not. Its where
God wants me
to go. Im just
grateful to have
the opportunity to
go on a mission.
I cant wait!
27
WE BELIEVE IN CHRIST
Growing in the gospel

Two more of the talks I gave in church as a youth.
BY DUSTIN
President Howard W. Hunter

Sacrament meeting, Charlotte 3rd Ward
Date unknown, but probably given in late 1995 or early 1996, after
President Hunters passing on 3 March 1995, when I was in eighth
grade. The original was written and edited by hand.
ood morning, brothers and sisters. For those of
you who do not know me, my name is Dustin Joyce. Just
a little over a week ago, Brother Watterson, the second
counselor in the bishopric, asked me to speak in church today about
a prophet. As you can see I accepted. I chose to speak today on the
childhood of Howard W. Hunter, because he was the prophet for
so short a time and we didnt have an opportunity to get to know
him well. I hope that you can learn some about him through my talk
today.
Howard W. Hunter was born to Will and Nellie Hunter on 14
November 1907 in Boise, Idaho. On 5 April 1908, when Howard was
five months old, his mother took him to fast and testimony meeting
at the Boise Branch of the Northwestern Mission. There the branch
president, Heber Q. Hale, gave him a blessing.
Soon after Howards sister, Dorothy, was born, his mother was
sterilizing some water by boiling it in a pan on the living room stove
that the family used for heat. She had taken the water off the stove
and set it on the floor because it was too hot to hold. Then Howard
came running through the house. He fell headlong into the pan,
throwing his left hand in front of himself, and it was badly scalded.
Many years later he described what happened next.
A call was made to the doctor and he recommended that

my arm be packed in mashed potatoes and bandaged.
Some of the neighbor ladies came in to help. I can
remember sitting on the drain board in the kitchen while
boiled potatoes were mashed and packed around my arm
and cloths were torn to make a bandage. Fortunately the
serious burn did not hinder the growth of my arm, but I
have carried the scar all my life.
Howards lifelong interest in woodworking was foreshadowed
when he was just two years old. His father, along with the help of the
brother-in-law of his mothers aunt, Christie Moore, built the family
a three-room frame house on a quarter-acre lot in a subdivision just
outside the west city limits of Boise. Howards father purchased for
him a small hammer and let him pound nails into the living room
floor.
As a boy, Howard loved animals. He had a pet dog, pet rabbits,
and, he said, every stray cat could find a haven at our house, even
against family objections.
As a boy, Howard read many books such as Tom Sawyer,
Huckleberry Finn, and the Tom Swift series, and took piano lessons.
28
Howard W.
Hunter served
as 14th president
of The Church
of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day
Saints. His
tenure, 5 June
19943 March
1995, is currently
the shortest in
Church history.
Howard was liked by adults for his good manners. He would tip
his hat to people on the street and give up his seat on the streetcar if
anyone was standing.
Howard once had polio, which he got from his friend Buster
Grimm. Buster was crippled for life because of the disease, while the
only lasting effect of the disease on Howard was a lifelong stiff back:
he was never able to bend forward and touch the floor.
For the most part Howard did well in school. However, he
claims he did have 2 handicaps: I was not good in sports and I had a
problem telling colorsnot all colors, but shades of red, green, and
brown.
He devised an ingenious way to solve his color-blindness
problem. He would put his crayons on the top of his desk, and when
the art teacher asked the students to pick up a crayon of a certain
color, he would run his finger over the crayons on his desk and
Beatrice Beach, who sat behind him, would tap him on the shoulder
when he came to the right one. He was embarrassed to admit to the
teacher that he couldnt distinguish the colors.
He enjoyed reading, writing, and most other academic
subjects, but he didnt always work hard to master them. He had
many other interests as well, such as a succession of afterschool and
summer jobs.
Adults seemed to sense that Howard was conscientious and
dependable. As a young boy he helped around the neighborhood,
mowing, doing yard work, bringing milk from the dairy to the
widows, picking fruit, or any other work. Sometimes he was paid for
such work; other times he did it just because he liked helping others.
These experiences and other that Howard W. Hunter had in his
childhood as a young boy helped prepare him to become the 14th
president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a
true and righteous prophet of the Lord.
What a junior home-teaching companion

expects of his senior companion
Stake general priesthood meeting
Charlotte North Carolina South Stake
Sunday, 23 November 1997
ood evening, brethren. I really enjoy
giving talks, believe it or not, so Im very
thankful to be here this evening to talk to
you. Ill be talking to you this evening on something
that is very important to me personally and, as we
learn in the Doctrine and Covenants, an integral part
of the system that the Lord set up in his restored
Church to look over his sheep. That topic is home
teaching and, more specifically, what a junior
companion should and does expect from his senior
companion and the role the senior companion should
take in relation to his junior companion.
There are some simple needs in a home-teaching
companionship over which the senior companion
has a stewardship. The first that comes to mind is
that, as needed, a senior companion should provide
his junior companion with rides to and from their
home-teaching appointments. The Lord has his
reasons for sending out home teachers in pairs, and
when they cannot or do not fulfill their duty as a pair,
these reasons are brought to nothing. Additionally,
the time spent together as companions allows them
to catch up on each others lives, learn the needs of
each others families, strengthen their relationship
as home-teaching companions, and prepare for
their visits. One suggestion that I would have is that,
during this short trip, they pray for the presence and
guidance of the Spirit at their appointments and for
the welfare of their families. The Savior in his earthly
ministry said, as found in Matthew 18:19, Again I say
unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as
touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done
for them of my Father which is in heaven.
Also, the senior companion should take
the primary role in ensuring that he and his
junior companion keep in touch and maintain
good communication between themselves. The
Melchizedek Priesthood holder should make sure
that his junior companion knows the time and
place of upcoming visits, and the junior companion
should do likewise. A good area in which an Aaronic
Priesthood holder can be given some responsibility
is in making the home-teaching appointments and
informing his senior companion of the time and place
of these appointments. This also assists the junior
companion in keeping in touch in his own way with
his home-teaching families.
We read in Doctrine and Covenants 84:26,
And the [Aaronic P]riesthood holdeth the key
of the preparatory gospel. In other words, the
Aaronic Priesthood prepares young men to hold
the Melchizedek Priesthood and fulfill the duties
We as junior
companions
expect our senior
companions
generally to be
a leader and an
example. We
expect them to
teach us as guided
by the Holy Ghost
to be good junior
companions and
good Aaronic
Priesthood
holders, and
eventually to
be good senior
companions and
Melchizedek
Priesthood
holders.
above
The Charlotte North
Carolina South Stake
center at 5815 Carmel
Road in Charlotte, where
we attended church
when I was growing up
(and where these talks
were given).
GOOGLE MAPS | JUNE 2014
that come with it, including that of being senior

home-teaching companions. A senior companion is
supposed to be one of the people who implements
this program of preparation. As a result of this
responsibility, they are to take the leadership in the
companionship, and junior companions recognize
this duty.
One way that I as a junior companion recognize
this duty of my senior companion is by expecting him
to take the primary part in preparing each months
lesson. At the same time, however, I expect him to
keep me in mind when preparing the lesson and
to allow me a job to play in the presentation of his
lesson. Occasionally, I even like to have the role of
preparing the lesson myself when the topic is of less
magnitude than in other months (though I wont
mind not preparing this months lesson, Brother
Barringer). I have done so in the past, and in doing
this I have been able to sharpen my skills in giving
talks in sacrament meeting and even in writing
reports and making presentations for school.
In conclusion, we as junior companions expect
our senior companions generally to be a leader and
an example. We expect them to teach us as guided by
the Holy Ghost to be good junior companions and
good Aaronic Priesthood holders, and eventually
to be good senior companions and Melchizedek
Priesthood holders. We expect them to let us and
to help us be involved in recognizing and fulfilling
the stewardships over which the Lord has called us.
We expect them to guide us in performing our roles
as junior companions and, while keeping enough
responsibility for themselves, allowing us sufficient
responsibility to teach us what exactly we should
do. Last of all, we expect our senior home-teaching
companions to help us exercise and to even execute
themselves the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants
20:59 which states: They are to warn, expound,
exhort, and teach, and invite all to come unto Christ.
And this I say in the name of our Redeemer, Lord,
and King, Jesus Christ, amen.
29
The Church
in our day
continued from page 5
STATISTICAL REPORT
APRIL 2014
As of 31 December 2013
Church units
Stakes 3,050
Missions 405
Districts 571
Wards and branches
29,253
Church membership
Total membership
New children of record
Converts baptized
Missionaries
Full-time missionaries
Church-service missionaries
15,082,028
115,486
282,945
83,035
24,032
TEMPLES UPDATE
As of 30 April 2014
Operating 142
Under construction
14
Announced 14
Dedicated
Gilbert Arizona
30
2 March 2014
needed to know that somebody cared and

that I wasnt alone. And this womanI
dont think I ever even found out what her
name was, and I never saw her again after
I talked to her for about five minutesits
not like she was going to be the one who
would be there to accompany me through
this scary thing of trying to find a job and
move and trying to figure out what to do
with my life. I never saw her again, so she
was not the one that was going to be there
to make me not alone. But she was the one
that let me know that Heavenly Father was
there and that I wasnt alone. And she was
the one who, just by giving me a hug and
listening to me, let me know that Heavenly
Father was going to be there with me while
I made all of those hard, scary decisions.
I know that our job or our calling
as children of God seems overwhelming
sometimes. Sometimes we feel like we
cant help and theres just too much to do,
and this person has too many needs and
I just cant do it, I cant handle it. But our
job is not to fix everybodys problems. If
we can fix them, great. But obviously this
woman was not going to be able to fix
my problems. If we cant fix somebodys
problems, it doesnt mean that we failed,
and it doesnt mean that we shouldnt try,
and it doesnt mean that we cant be of any
help at all. Our calling is just to love people
so that they know that theyre not alone in
their problems, to make sure that nobody
ever has to go through those difficult times
wondering if anybody knows them or
cares about them. Our job is to make sure

that nobody ever has to wish that they
had friends, because were their friend.
Our job is to provide people with plenty
of evidence, just in case they ever wonder
on a dark night if they really are alone, we
should be the ones giving them evidence
that theyre not alone, that theyre never
alone. And it seems hard and scary to be the
person that has to love. But we can do it.
One last story, and then Im going to
wrap up. Before I left on my mission, I was
living in a singles ward in Texas. Our Relief
Society president was just about to age out
of the singles ward and graduate, as they
say. So we knew that she was going to be
getting released, because we knew that she
was moving to a family ward. And one of
my friends said to me, Oh, Susan, I think I
know who the next Relief Society president
is going to be, implying that it was going
to be me. I said, Oh, no, it cant be me
because I dont love people enough. As
soon as those words came out of my mouth,
I thought, Oh, no, thats why you get callings.
Im definitely going to be the Relief Society
president. And, sure enough, I was the next
Relief Society president. I did learn in that
calling that its hard and its a lot of work,
but its not the love thats a lot of work.
Loving people doesnt take that much
work. Its the meetings and the other things
that are hard work.
But we can all love people. And thats
what people need most. And I say that in
the name of Jesus Christ, amen. d
NOTES
1. See 1 Corinthians 13
2. See Moroni 7:4448
3. Moroni 7:47
4. See John 21:1517
5. Mosiah 18:9
6. A 7.0-magnitude earthquake that occurred on
12 January 2010, killed an estimated 100,000
160,000 people, and caused widespread
destruction across the country, which is the
poorest and least developed in the Western
Hemisphere.
7. A 9.0-magnitude earthquake that occurred
off the coast of Japan on 11 March 2011 and
caused a massive tsunami that was up to 133
feet (40.5 meters) high and traveled up to 6
miles (10 kilometers) inland. Almost 16,000
people were killed and over 1 million buildings
were damaged or destroyed, including a
nuclear power plant that had a meltdown. (See
Dialann 2.1819.)
8. Typhoon Haiyan (or Yolanda), which struck
the Philippines on 8 November 2013 and killed
over 6,000 people while causing widespread
damage.
9. See Doctrine and Covenants 45:26
N O T I F I C AT I O N S
JANUARYMARCH 2014
A new quarterly roundup of the tidbits of our lives we share on social media.
FA C E B O O K
DUSTIN 2 January 2014, 7.50
Taking a taxi in New York for the first time.
with Susan Hibdon at Eastern Parkway
DUSTIN 2 January 2014, 9.42 | Brooklyn
It looks like todays the day!
with Susan Hibdon
The things my phone comes up with.
Just now I was sending a text message
to a friend, Ive been in the other room
working on a project. Except instead of
project it inserted prophecy.
No, I have not been in the other room
working on a prophecy.
SUSAN 19 January 2014, 23.51

Fiona: That is a nice little baby brother in
his car seat in there. I wuv him. I wuv to get
hugs from him and from my grown-ups.
Dustin: Fiona, would you help me set the
table?
DUSTIN 1 February 2014, 10.32

Going through photos on my phone and ran
across this one. Fiona looks so urbane, with
her orange lollipop and black coat, on the
concourse at Grand Central Terminal.
at Grand Central Terminal
Fiona: Well, Im kind of busy right now.

Watching Fiona do yoga with Susan (while
I sit here and feed Colin) is one of the most
adorable things Ive ever seen.

At my age, a man can have a pink birthday
cake if heor his three-and-a-half-year-old
daughterwants.
with Susan Hibdon

In this one, Fiona isnt looking at the
camera because she didnt want me to
take her picture. But she almost looks like
shes posing this way on purpose. Our little
fashion model.

Troys gone.
(And Jeff Winger has never set foot outside
of Colorado???)
feeling sad

13 January, reading with Daddy. (11 days
old)
with Dustin Tyler Joyce

I thought it was a rather solid State
of the Union addressperhaps the
best of Obamas presidencyall the
more surprising considering how his
administration has virtually gone off the
rails in the past six months or so.
SUSAN 1 February 2014, 10.25
Facebook should add a what? button next
to the like button. For all the comments
people make that dont make any sense.
31

Cleaning out papers and ran across this
My mom printed out this email (yes, printed outthats what
you did back in the day) and gave it to me sometime in the 1990s.
Amazing that people dreamed up paying a payphone by using
the bodys ability to transmit electricity instead of, you know, a
phone that you just carry with you everywhere.

Fiona, pointing to the map on her wall: Do
you know what place this is, Baby Brother?
Me: Do YOU know what place that is,
Fiona?
Fiona: Australia!
Fiona, smarter than the average inept New
Yorker Im currently dealing with. Far
smarter.
with Susan Hibdon

Fiona just went around with a cup asking
me and Susan for money. Whered she learn
that?!

Sign youre a stay-at-home dad in Brooklyn:
Someone gives you a cash gift and the
first thing you think is, Great! Laundry
money!
Pleasure in the simple things: the cold
weather makes it difficult to do things
outside, so this evening Fiona and I went to
JFK Airport and rode the AirTrain. Its an
automated train, so theres no driver, and
we can get a rare view through the front
window. Its better than a roller coaster
(and less expensive than an amusement
park, too).
Here, Fiona plays with one of the
touchscreen maps in a station.
at Howard Beach JFK Airport
(If youve ever ridden the New York City

Subway, youll know the answer.)
Coming here and learning about the
universe always overwhelms my mind and
makes me feel really small and insignificant.
Like, really, really, really, really, really,
really, really, really, really, really small and
insignificant.
at Rose Center for Earth and Space
Ice skating last night with my three-foot-tall
Valentine.
at Bank of America Winter Village At
Bryant Park
SUSAN 5 February 2014, 22.15

The new NBCNews.com: the Pinterest
version of actual news reporting.

Colin stares down his arch-nemesis, iloc.
with Susan Hibdon

Theres a blizzard outside. But Im wearing
shorts. Because I can, and because I feel like
it. So there.
I rediscovered the journal I attempted
to start writing in summer 1997. Its so
embarrassing to meet your 15-year-old self.

Just calculated that Susan paid $1,204.08
in dues to her worthless union last year.
Almost makes me wish we lived in a rightto-work state.
2013 tax return: done.
feeling accomplished
32
TWITTER
DUSTIN 7 March 2014, 23.28 | New York
In a major argument with Susan right now
over whether weve seen Dan in Real Life
before. (We have.)
DUSTIN 16 March 2014, 21.03
Happy (early) St. Patricks Day! Shamrock
sugar cookies, anyone?
@SEOIGH 1 January 2014, 22.12

Whenever @mint sends me a notice about
a large deposit into my bank account, I
always hope its one I wasnt expecting.
Sadly, it never is.
@SEOIGH 11 February 2014, 15.58

And in #NH, the the Criminal Justice
committee in the state House just voted
143 to repeal the #deathpenalty
HT @ncadp
@SEOIGH 24 January 2014, 13.03

Learning more and more that my wifes
union (that would be the @UFT) pretty
majorly blows

Just calculated that my wife paid $1,204.08
in dues to her worthless union in 2013
(once again, that would be the @UFT)
#wewantourmoneyback

With my daughter at her very first @NBA
game, @BrooklynNets vs @Sixers at
@barclayscenter
@SEOIGH 19 March 2014, 9.21

Im going to go out on a limb here: hands
down the best subway musicians in #NYC
are at the Metropolitan Av station on the
#Gtrain
@SEOIGH 28 March 2014, 20.45
Overkill. Maybe not the best choice of
words when talking about airplane crashes,
@TIME.

Exploring Lower Manhattan with Fiona.
at Stone Street

Im just going to say it: smart, successful
people really piss me off.

Suddenly, drinking this makes me feel more
like a real American. #AmericaIsBeautiful
#thelanguagedoesntmatter

Proud, in my own small way, to protest
#NSA surveillance on my sites hosted by
@wordpressdotcom #StopTheNSA
33
T H E G A L L E RY
Peas porridge day

11 January 2014, 17.15 est
Peas porridge hot
Peas porridge cold
Peas porridge in the pot
Nine days old.
Colin was nine days old, so we celebrated
with some peas porridge (or, rather, splitpea soup) at Au Bon Pain at the Staten
Island Ferry terminal in St. George. Here,
Colin, Susan, and Fiona ride the John J.
Marchi from Manhattan to Staten Island
Colin's first time on a boat.
34
Inspired by Time magazines Light Box, a quarterly roundup of

images of our lives that might not otherwise make it into our magazine.
Admiration
3 March 2014, 10.32 est
Colin looks up admiringly at his favorite
person in the world, his big sister.
35
ISSUE 14 A P R I L 2014
She wasnt always the easiest of

grandmas, Susans cousin Deborah
Deegan recalled. She definitely wasnt
a storybook, milk-and-cookies kind of a
person. But, boy, shed curl up with a good
bookWizard of Oz and old westerns and
stuff like that. And we spent a lot of time
doing things like that and playing cards.
She was pretty tremendous.
SEE REMEMBERING REVELEE,
PAGE 14
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24 Receiving the call

17.45 PDT, 8 MAY 2007

28 Growing in the gospel

By Dustin | A journal entry from the month

Lift up the hands

In a church talk, Susan

Fiona imparts wisdom

+ Valentines Day love

The Metropolitan Transportation

1 In a ceremony at his home

6 The Senate votes 5626 to

2 John Travolta introduces

16 Crimea holds a referendum

MR.TINDC | 14 MARCH 2010 | CC BY-ND 2.0

2 Gilbert Arizona Temple

highest level since large-scale

22 A major mudslide near Oso,

DIAL ANN APRI L 2014

Lift up the hands that hang down

This is the transcript of a talk

ood morning, everyone. Ive been

one of my greatest fears as I was growing up, when

neighborhood that we had never been

that summer. But that was not my plan. I

more and you have nothing left. You just

if I had a job until two weeks before school

Finding our first home

For more about

s Susan and I were making wedding

We are excited that you are interested

in a new home at Waterside Towers. We

Floor plan of apartment 931.

Opened as rental in 1941

When we arrived at the triangle bounded

The view from apartment 931.

the month we moved in D.C.s first Target

DIAL ANN APRI L 2014

The toddler that travels

Fionas first visit to each

For more details

y Mama and Daddy say that

bus can be just as much fun, even if the

love notes from Mama

I love watching you dance.

I love singing songs with you.

I love listening to you talk to Colin while

I love your stories about when you were in

I love watching you run and play with

I love holding your hand when we walk

I love how committed you are to doing the

I love it that you like to wear firefighter

I love it that you appreciate my influence.

I love your good memory.

I love your sense of adventure.

I love listening to you pray.

I love getting hugs from you.

I love the questions you ask.

I love how interested you are in things, like

I love watching you jump and dance when

I love it that you do silly things like having