A New Apostle

 Elder Clark G Gilbert has been called to be the new apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

We have a connection.  His younger sister, Emily is married to our nephew, Ryan Stratford.

America's Youth in Concert

 

America’s Youth in Concert

In the state of Idaho when I was growing up, choir students had the opportunity to audition for All- state and All-region music festivals.  Each festival included a choir, a band, and an orchestra. Students auditioned to participate on cassette or reel-to-reel tape.  All who wished to audition signed up and were given an audition time.  You went to the choir room and sang (or played) the proscribed music.  Then the teacher mailed the tape with all of the students’ auditions.   All-state was held every other year, with all-region (the state was divided into regions) choir being held in the in- between years.   I was lucky in that All-state was held my sophomore and senior year.  I auditioned (by tape) for all-state as a sophomore and made it.  It was really pretty rare for a sophomore to make it in all-state and I was so pleased. 

 It was held in Moscow, Idaho at the University of Idaho campus.  Well-known and talented adjudicators directed each group. I roomed with a senior violin player, Katie Gabbard.  It was a wonderful and fun experience.  I have a recording of our concert.  That recording thrills me as, in one of our choir numbers, you can actually hear an overtone.  An overtone is a musical phenomenon where, if a chord is in perfect pitch, a note one or two octaves above the highest note will sound on its own. 

My junior year, I auditioned for and got in the All-region choir.  Many from my school made it into that choir, as it just included our region.  I don’t remember where that was held, but I remember traveling there by bus.  I have a very happy memory about that. About halfway to our destination, the bus stopped at a little elementary school.  The school lunch workers had stayed after lunchtime to prepare a lunch for us.  By the time we got there, it was one or two in the afternoon, and I was starving.  They served the most delicious macaroni and cheese I have ever tasted.  Obviously, I will never forget that creamy, delicious macaroni and cheese.  Oh my, it was good!

But, back to the subject.  Because I was in all-state and all-region choirs, I was invited to audition for an all-nation choir called “America’s Youth in Concert” during my junior year.  It was to include students from every state in the union and would include a band, orchestra, and choir.  I sent in my audition tape and was so surprised and pleased to get an acceptance letter.  I talked about it with my parents, and they were so pleased and willing to pay for it.  I can remember the cost was $1,050 or something like that-a steal by today’s standards.  I signed up.  The trip was to originate in New Jersey.

I left a week before we had to meet in New Jersey to spend a week in Chicago with Patty and Hal.  Hal was in dental school in Chicago.  I had such a fun week with them.  They took me to Nauvoo on the weekend.  They just had Evan then.  He was the cutest little boy.  It was a special time with my sister who I love so much. 

From Chicago, I flew to Newark, New Jersey to start the tour.

 Over 1,000 students convened there to rehearse and start the tour.  Besides rehearsals, we had uniform fittings, and social experiences.  After three days, we went, by bus, to New York City and put on a concert at Carnegie Hall.  It was a thrill of a lifetime to sing in the beautiful hall.   The concluding number was The Battle Hymn of the Republic. It is hard to put into words that spiritual, magnificent experience, singing that gorgeous ballad with the huge choir, band, and orchestra.  We then went by bus to Washington DC and put on the same concert at the Kennedy Center.  It, too, was thrilling to sing in that famous venue. 

We then were divided into two equal groups to fly to and travel Europe.  One group, my group, traveled first to London, England, then Brussells, Belgium, then Paris, France, then Salzburg, Austria, then Germany (by mistake- the bus got lost), then three cities in Italy.  The other group started in Italy and met us in Salzburg for another combined concert, then they reversed our order of cities. 

I loved visiting the sites in all of the famous cities in Europe.  I wished I had spent more time preparing for my trip- learning about what I was going to see.  Also, my camera quit working, so I didn’t have a camera for some of the trip.  Then a nice girl from New Jersey loaned me an extra camera she had.  I still feel horrible guilt that I never sent her camera back to her after we got home.  I intended to; I just didn’t ever get it done.

For the first time in my life on this tour, I was away from conservative Idaho.  I was on my own.  It was 1972, a time of civil unrest.  I didn’t know it when I signed up, but the head of the whole thing- the organizer was a member of my church, a Mormon as we were called.  Rumors started to fly that he was prejudiced against black people and that a white and black person should not be seen together.  The rumors grew and turmoil was brewing.  We were divided into smaller groups with a couple at the head of each group.  Our group leaders called us together for a discussion.  There were probably 50-60 people in this lounge area of the dormitory in which we were staying.  The atmosphere was tense as they discussed the prejudiced issue.  The head of the tour was discussed and it was mentioned that he was a Mormon.  Then one of the students turned to me and said, “Kay, you’re a Mormon.  What do you believe about the blacks?”  Wow!  I was on the spot.  My heart started beating faster and I said a silent prayer for help.  I opened my mouth and out came the words, “I don’t know (the leader; I can’t remember his name now.  Maybe Mr. Geddes?) and I don’t know what he believes, but I do know that our church does not teach us to be prejudiced.  We are taught to love all people as Jesus does.”

 I have often looked back on that moment and wish I had had more maturity and knowledge, but I do believe the Lord filled my open mouth with words He wanted said at that moment.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to be part of America’s Youth in Concert- to represent my country and my religion. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All Creatures Great and Small

 

Non-Fiction    Physical Book

I loved this delightful book.  My mom gave it to me as a Christmas gift in 1983 and I finally got around to reading it.  I am so glad.  It truly is a treasure.  It isn’t a page turner, but always a delightful read.  Each chapter is a story from Herriot’s first couple of years as a veterinary surgeon in the English countryside. I am excited to watch the series on PBS.  4 ½ stars

Pray More

 

Pachinko

 

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Physical book Historical Fiction/ Family Saga
A beautifully written immersion into another culture with excellent character development. This describes the first part of the book. But then the beautiful language flow changes and the plot gets sorted and raunchy. It’s almost like two different books. Overall, I’m glad I read it. But I honestly can’t recommend it because of the raunchy scenes near the end. I did learn from the strong characters and of the history of these times in Korea and Japan.


View all my reviews

Farewell Grass!

 The children in our neighborhood love to play in our yard.  They are here often.  They are upset that we are taking out some of our grass in the front yard and replacing it with terraced xeriscaping.  The day the workers started on the project, they spent the day making signs and cards and staging a bit of a protest.  They all sat across the street in lawn chairs and watched and mourned. They each collected grass to save and framed some of the grass for us.  They're a funny bunch.  

They even had a picnic on the edge. (They often have picnics on our yard.)  

We have asked them not to play in our yard until the project is completed to protect the equipment, etc and for their safety.  It has been a nice reprieve from the noise. It was increasing as more and more children joined the group and they were here many hours a day (and night).  I will post pictures of our project.  We have been taking them day by day as the work progresses.  It's exciting!

A Sweet Marriage\ Sealing

Ken has had the opportunity to perform several marriage/ sealings, including four from our ward.  He married this precious couple this month.

I wanted to post about it because of the connections we have with them and their family.

• Ken's father and the bride's great-grandfather served in a stake presidency together many years ago.

• The bride's grandmother and Ken went to high school together in Hurricane.  She and their family moved into our ward a few years after we did  We raised our families together..
•  So the bride's mom grew up in this ward.  She was an impressive, sweet girl.  She grew up and went on a mission speaking ASL.  She came home, married, and lived out of state while they had their children.
• Later, she and her family moved here and bought a home in this ward, so the bride grew up here, too. 
• The bride was one of my Mia Maids.  
• Ken and the bride's father served in an elders quorum presidency together and we have been close.
• The groom is our stake president's son. 
• The groom's father worked for Ken years ago.

Ken did a beautiful job in the sealing.  It was a very special experience.  There was such a strong spirit there.  We love these people.

  Sometimes family extends beyond blood relatives.

I Think That's My Dad!

 Ken was reading the book Saints at War.  It is stories of Latter-Day Saints that have fought in wars.  He read about a special conference held for Latter-Day Saint soldiers in Okinawa in 1945.  The story was accompanied by a picture of the large gathering.  He looked at it and exclaimed, "I think that's my dad!"  His father, Lavar Hinton, was stationed on Ie Shima island at that time.  Latter-Day saint soldiers from the islands all around were transported by boat to this conference.  Ken vaguely remembered reading in his dad's journal about him attending this conference.

The drawn line points to who we think is Lavar.

Ken then went to Lavar's journal and found the entry.  A man named Jack Lemmon is mentioned in the journal.  Jack was also from Hurricane.  We now serve in the temple with Jack's son Jim, who is also a sealer.  We are so glad both men were preserved in this war.

The Most Important Decision We Make

 Elder Bruce R McConkie's oft-quoted statement on marriage is powerful and worth pondering: 

I am grateful for the decision I made in my youth to marry Ken:

OPO

 

Our grandson, Nathan, Elder Mackrory, shared with us a mantra that he and his mission district came up with.

OPO

That stands for:

Opposition Provides Opportunity

They came up with it during the recent huge snowstorm that inundated the midwest and east.  All kinds of things happened during that that hindered their work and plans.  Elder Soares was supposed to come to their mission.  Because of the storm, his plans were on again/ off again several times.  He decided to push through and come "for the missionaries."  But they had to travel to be at the chapel by 7:30am so that he could get a flight out before the storm hit.  That meant being up and ready at 4am to get there on time.  But it was a great opportunity and Nathan outlined so much that he learned from Elder Soares including that opposition is a good thing.  We came to earth to have challenges.  Elder Soares challenged them to never complain.

Soon thereafter, a car backed into theirs in a parking lot= opposition.  The state declared that no one could drive on Sunday because of the snowstorm, so they spent the day in their apartment doing lots of phone contacting.  The opportunity came in that they could spend time on the phone, answering questions. They had some great gospel/teaching discussions on the phone.

 They had their district conference by facetime and came up with this mantra and shared miracles that have happened because of the storm, building one another's faith.  

I thought it was a great mantra and a great way of looking at opposition.

A Calf-Off

 One evening Michelle texted and challenged Ken to a "Calf-off."  We're not sure what prompted it that night, but we have known for many years that Ken and Michelle have big, muscular calves.  They are both very athletic and exercise regularly which maintains those large muscles.  Michelle is a dancer and keeps in very good shape.  So anyway, she wanted to know who had the biggest calves.  

It's a tie!  Both 17 inches!  I guess Gabbi thought she could compete, but hers were only 15".  There's still time Gabbi, there's still time.   You might catch up!  Anyway, it was a fun little challenge.

How big are your calves?

Wizard of Oz

 

YES!  The yearly showing of the Wizard of Oz was a much-anticipated annual event.  We had a black and white television, but our neighbors, the Blackers owned a large furniture and appliance store.  They had one of the first color TVs.  They invited us to come over and watch it in color!  Oh, that was exciting.  I can so vividly remember gathering around their tv in their den and enjoying that great movie.

Promise From a Prophet

 

"I promise that as you will daily immerse yourself in the Book of Mormon, you can be immunized against the evils of the day, even the gripping plague of pornography and other mind-numbing addictions."

President Russell M. Nelson

Gender/Chastity

 I was listening to this Face to Face.  I heard this.  A young adult asked Elder Holland about the gender confusion issue.  This was his answer.  I had chills all over when I heard this.  This is truth!

They Show Up Well

 When we were visiting the Prince family on Sunday morning, William came out in these socks.  I said "Whoa!  Those are bright."  He said, "Yes, they show up well."  😁  They sure do!

January Family Book Club: The Summer of Yes

 We recently held our virtual family book club.  Shonna was in charge and chose the book, The Summer of Yes by *Courtney Walsh.  It was a good discussion about the story which taught the importance of saying yes to ourselves instead of always saying no (which is so my nature- I'm not very adventurous.)  We had a good discussion on the book as well as getting caught up with each other.  We love these times with our precious, insightful daughters.

*Courtney Walsh is committed to writing "clean, no spice" books.  She is a "safe" author.

My Dear Aunt Nedra Passes Away

 How we loved Aunt Nedra.  She is my dad's youngest sibling and is the last of my aunt's and of that generation to pass away.  

Aunt Nedra was truly one of my heroes.  Soon after Ken and I were married, Aunt Nedra organized the first of the Lyman Conrad Gabrielsen Sr. family reunions- hosting us all at their home in Oakley, Idaho then at their ranch.  We arrived the night before it began and stayed in their beautiful Oakley home.  I will never forget sitting down to breakfast the next morning.  There was oatmeal with cream, bacon and eggs and toast and orange juice.  Everything was so delicious!  Aunt Nedra was a fabulous cook.

Aunt Nedra brought the family together.  After that reunion, we continued to hold them regularly.  Because of her, we got to know one another and enjoy one another's company.

If you never read the obituaries I post, I don't blame you.  But if you want to be inspired, you should read this one.  Aunt Nedra lived a long and very inspiring life.  She was an amazing individual.  

Nedra Gabrielsen Bedke

Born: Sunday Aug-07-1932
Died: Sunday Jan-18-2026
Funeral: Saturday Jan-24-2026

Morrison Funeral Home 
& Crematory
188 S. Hwy 24
Rupert, Idaho 83350
Contact and Directions

NEDRA GABRIELSEN BEDKE

OAKLEY -Nedra Pauline Gabrielsen Bedke was born on August 7, 1932, in Logan, Utah, the youngest of five children born to Lyman Conrad and Erma Deborah Adams Gabrielsen. She grew up in Logan, where her father worked as a building contractor, constructing more than 500 homes, along with churches and schools—many of which are not only still standing but remain in use today. Her dad always said that “anything worth doing was worth doing well”, a principle that seemed to become her life’s mantra.

Nedra attended high school in Logan and later attended Utah State University, where she met the love of her life, Ray C. Bedke. They were married on September 12, 1952, in the Logan Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Shortly after Ray graduated from Utah State, he was inducted into the military. He completed his service in 1955, and they returned to the family ranch.

The move from Logan to the Winecup Ranch was a significant adjustment for a city girl. Living in an old log cabin without indoor plumbing or electricity—and relying on an appropriately placed outhouse out back—she took on the demanding task of caring for a hay crew of more than a dozen men. Each day, she prepared three square meals and washed their laundry, learning the rhythms of ranch life along the way. In time, she became a master of the old wood-burning Majestic stove, approaching every task with the same care and attention to detail that would come to define all her work.

Nedra and Ray are the parents of six children. Their first son, Derek, passed away after just 12 days. Three anxious years later Scott (Sarah) was born, then Eric (Marcie), Alex (Kathy), Leslie (Will), and Brice (Camille). Raising five children while maintaining two households—one in Oakley and one up Goose Creek—kept Nedra busy, yet she somehow always found time for others, giving each person her full attention and love.

If life wasn’t busy enough, Nedra always made room for music. Beginning in 1956 to 2023 (67 years), Nedra taught organ and piano lessons, instructing literally hundreds of students, including her children, and many of her grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, usually with patience! Through music, she taught discipline, confidence, and skills that inspired her students long after the lessons ended.

Nedra generously shared her time, talents, and determination in service to her community. She served on the governing board of Cassia Memorial Hospital, was president of the PTA, and served as a member of the Oakley City Council and the Oakley Valley Arts Council board of directors. She also served faithfully in her church in many roles, including president of the Relief Society, Primary, and Young Women, and for many years as a ward organist or chorister.

After Ray’s passing in 1998, Nedra continued to play a vital role in the family business as the ranch bookkeeper—a responsibility she dutifully carried for more than 50 years. At 88 years young, she retired from keeping the ranch books in 2020 but remained president of Winecup, Inc. to the day of her death, last week. Meticulous in her work, her records left no doubt about what was what.

To her family, Nedra was especially known as a wonderful cook and gracious hostess. She hosted countless holiday gatherings, bringing family together year after year around grand meals prepared with great attention to detail. Eating with Nedra has always been an experience. Her home and yard reflected the same attention to detail, with well-kept grounds and flowers, especially her roses, she tended herself well into her 90s.

Nedra loved to quilt and over the years she made quilts for each of her children’s graduations, weddings and for her grandchildren’s graduations and weddings, not to mention the countless baby quilts. Each one was crafted with precision and care, over a hundred in total.

Above all else, Nedra’s greatest desire has always been that her family remains close and to be a source of strength to one another. She organized countless family gatherings and made every effort to be present for the important moments in the lives of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Whether mastering a wood stove, teaching a difficult piece of music, balancing ranch books, or piecing together a quilt, Nedra did everything with excellence and as an expression of devotion to those she loved. Her legacy is one of faithfulness, quiet leadership, steadfast service, and a love so deep it transformed everything and everyone it touched into something beautiful and enduring.

Nedra loved the community theater. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made on behalf of Nedra to Oakley Valley Arts Council.

https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/donate-today-to-help-us-make-our-planned-upgrades-to-howells-opera-house-happen

 

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, January 24, 2026 at the Oakley Stake Center 355 North Center Street in Oakley.  Burial will follow in the Oakley Cemetery.  Family will greet friends on Friday evening, January 23, 2026 from 5:00 until 7:00 at the Oakley Stake Center and from 10:00 until 10:45 a.m. Saturday morning prior to the funeral. Arrangements are under the direction of Morrison Funeral Home, located on the Burley, Rupert Highway.  A live webcast of the services will be available and maintained on the Morrison Funeral Home Website

We left on Friday to drive to Burley where we spent the night.  The next morning, we drove by the recently opened Burley, Idaho temple.

Her funeral was wonderful and inspiring.  It was so wonderful to see and be with family.

Visiting with family

All of her great-grandchildren sang I Am a Child of God

At the cemetery

Nedra's kids and spouses.

Pam and Roger took the lead in getting a gift for the family.  We gave this little tree and boxes of Sees chocolates for each of Nedra's kids.  Aunt Nedra loved Sees chocolates.

As I saw Pam and Joan together, I was so impressed with how much they look alike that I had to take a picture.

There were SO many flower arrangements.  This picture shows about 1/2 of them.  Aunt Nedra was much loved, as are her offspring.

Brothers: Tom, Hal, Ken, and Roger

Sisters; Joan, Pam, Kay, and Patty 
(John and Cindy had to leave right after the funeral to make it to Rexburg in time to watch their daughter-in-law in a play that evening.

All of my cousins and spouses gathered for a picture.  I think it quite remarkable that every cousin was there except for two: Diane who lives in Missouri and Ellen who lives in Philadelphia. 

After the lovely luncheon provided by Nedra's ward, Ken and I drove to South Jordan to spend time with the Prince family.

Early on Sunday morning I could hear Ken and William out in the living room chatting while I got ready.  They sat there like that for 1 1/2 hours!  They had such a good visit.

William showed Ken a chart he made showing Grandpa Ken as one of his favorite people.

Kenny was asked to give a talk in Sacrament meeting.  It was his first ever as he just became a deacon.  Here he was practicing for us on Saturday evening.

He practiced again the next morning before we left for church.  Kenny did such a great job.  We were so proud of him.  Michelle and a group of sisters also sang in sacrament meeting.  Then William gave the scripture in Primary and we watched Michelle lead the singing in Primary.  It was a special day to be in their church.  We then hurried to their home, packed up, and left for home.
It was a beautiful weekend full of memories and family.