Angels

Jessie, Bessie, Gary, and Steve Holtom *Sorry the pic is so little.

"However much we believe in angels, we ought to believe in them more than we do, for they truly do 'encamp round about' us and they regularly protect and deliver us in many different ways." - Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

The picture above is of my Grandma Bessie holding my dad when he was a baby. The little boy is my Uncle Gary, and the man is my Grandpa Jessie Everett. I never met my Grandpa, he passed away a few years before I was born. I remember my Grandma Bessie VERY well! Often times I would spend Friday nights spending the night at her little, white, humble house in Iona, ID. On Friday nights I remember watching the show, "Dallas" while enjoying root beer floats and homemade cookies she made but stored in her deep freeze in the basement.  She made fantastic rolls when we had family dinners. I read in her journal that she had the goal of doing 365 temple sessions in one year. Grandma accomplished that and then some. Many times she would do three or four sessions in a row. She chopped and stacked wood in her 90's. She drove around a white Chrysler/Dodge Aries car when she could have had something nicer. She was a saver. She mowed her big yard with a push mower in her 90's. She loved to work in her yard and plant flowers. Grandma worked 30 + years in a potato plant sorting potatoes. Needless to say, Grandma Bessie was a HARD WORKER!! In fact, I remember her offering to help me correct papers my first year of teaching while she was in a nursing home. The reason she was in a nursing home was because she had fallen outside one May evening in her yard to turn off her outside hose. Her hip was broken and she stayed outside all night until a couple drove by and saw her lying on the ground. I rode in the ambulance with her and asked her what she did all night.?. She said she was a bit chilly, but that she slept some but mostly prayed and prayed. Grandma was a woman of faith! Her temple goal was a good example, and she was very diligent in the gospel! She insisted that her three sons (Uncle Dave wasn't born yet in the above picture) go to church and mutual - even if it meant when the front headlights to the car weren't working - she had her boys sit on the hood with flashlights so she could make sure they went to mutual. All three of her sons were bishops and when the last son got his call, she said, "It's about time." :) She had high expectations in the right areas!

I have no doubt that my grandma is one of my angels. In fact, I know she is around me a lot - especially when I am working in my yard. I dug up some of her bulbs and planted them in my yard. They are a gift! Curtis and I often smell my Grandpa too (my mom's dad). I have a friend, Darrell, who I know has been by my side in many instances. These angels are around...everyone has angels. I know it, and they do deliver and protect us!