March 27, 1971
40 year anniversary!
Forty years ago my father was baptized. My father was 22 years old. Without this pivotal moment in his life I would not have been blessed with everything that I enjoy today. I am indeed grateful for that. It is also amazing to me that a twenty-two year old guy would be willing to give up late nights and drinking for the idea of Eternal Families! But I am so happy he did!
{His Story}
In 1968 my dad and his friend, Carlton, suspected that they would soon be drafted {Vietnam War}. So they went to see about joining on the buddy system. My dad joined the army in November 1968, as planned. Carlton was drafted just two weeks before my dad joined.
January 1969 my dad was inducted into Basic Training in Fort Benning, GA. He said it was like Boy Scout camp, but they carried M-14 rifles. Carlton and dad had the same Drill Sergeant, but Carlton was one cycle ahead of my father. My dad then attended Advanced Training in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. In November 1969, my dad found himself serving in Company A 656 Engineer Battlion at Thompkins Barack outside of Schwetzingen, Germany. He served in Germany for two years. There he was introduced to the Gospel.
November 1969 in Germany, he became roommates with Sam Gellion and Larry Flucker. When my dad was off duty: Sam was his drinking buddy and Larry, a black guy, was his traveling buddy. Allen Stentzel joined their group in the Fall of 1970, about a year after my dad arrived in Germany. Allen {Al} was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was also a Returned Missionary {Oklahoma/Kansas/Missouri Area}.
On Friday & Saturday nights my dad and Sam would go drinking and dancing with German girls. On Sundays he would "drag his butt out of bed" to go to church with Al, for the sole purpose of seeing/meeting American girls. This became a normal routine.
Just weeks later, they attended Stake Conference. Harman Recker, a general authority {seventy}, spoke and shared his conversion story in the Navy. This peaked my dad's interest. While carpooling to/from the meeting the Missionaries bugged him about taking the discussions. The barracks had just stopped showing movies on Wednesday nights, and now that my dad had free time he agreed to meet with them...with the stipulation that Al could attend with him. They easily agreed.
They began the discussions in February and six weeks later they finished, at some time in March. Herald, a member of the ward, also attended the discussions and was supportive of my dad. During the discussions, if you know my dad you have to know that he really enjoyed playing devils advocate and just giving the missionaries a hard time. During his last discussion they asked him if he would commit to baptism. He said "Yes." My dad said that Herald was so shocked he thought he was going to have a heart attack. By this point, my dad had already told his Branch President and Al that he wanted to be baptized.
{Important Dates}
March 27, 1971 my dad was baptized by Herald and confirmed by Allen. Just days later he became a Deacon, four months later he became a Teacher, and four months later he became a Priest. All this took place in Germany.
August 2, 1972, the Oakland Temple, he received his Endowments.
November 8, 1974, the Salt Lake Temple, he was Sealed to his sweetheart {My Mother}.
{What was His Religious Background?}
My Grandma Margret was an Episcopalian. My Grandpa Robert was a Lutheran. As a family they attended the Lutheran Church until he was about 10 years old. After his parents divorce he attended the Episcopalian church with his mother. He didn't have deep ties to ether church.
{Why did He Join?}
Family. He said it was refreshing to see functioning families, when he felt as though his was so dysfunctional. The members were great examples, supportive, and had strong families. He also liked the concept and belief of Eternal Families. It all came down to family.
{How did his Parents React?}
His mom didn't care, she was happy he was going to church.
His dad thought it was okay to study other religions, but he didn't want him to join any.
His sister, and only sibling, didn't really have an opinion on the subject.
{What about the Word of Wisdom?}
My dad like to drink with his buddies. During the second or third discussion, the missionaries brought up the Word of Wisdom. After that meeting he never drank again. He stopped cold turkey. He was never interested in Coffer or Tea. He had tried smoking and pipe, but didn't really like it...so he didn't have any issues with following this guidance.
{Did he serve a mission?}
No. My dad was baptized at the age of 22. He returned to the United States just before he turned 23, at that time his Bishop in Atlanta counseled that he focus on getting married. I think this was mostly due to his age.
