Rose Park Stake has a flag flying again!

Flag pole at the Stake Center of the Rose Park Stake 760 N 1200 W

When I was a young boy, 10 to be exact, our Stake (a body of 7 wards or congregations - we now have eight) raised money to build a flag pole.  It was 1976, the 200th birthday of our nation and our building lacked a flag pole.  Many who helped raised money and helped build the building originally, were veterans of World War II who chose to call Rose Park home when they returned to start their families.  We have had many serve since in other ways, and frankly, Rose Park is a patriotic place.  Also that year, my father passed away in January of 1976 and had also served like me, as the Stake President of the Rose Park Stake.  The flag pole, which is tall like my dad, was to honor him as well.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had rightfully quit putting plaques on things to honor people but as they raised money, this was also indicated as a purpose.  Each week, as I attended Primary, then held on Tuesday afternoon, I took my money to put in the jar.  Many of the kids brought quarters but I always brought a dollar.  This was after all, something to recognize my father, who I just had lost as a young boy.  It rightfully has roses planted around it, the symbol of our community.

A few years later, lighting was added, but it fell into disrepair.  Out of respect for the flag, it was not flown 24 hours a day and gradually, it was seldom put up.  When I was Bishop of the Rose Park 9th Ward from 1993 to 1998 I would try to have a flag flown on Sundays but even that was difficult to have someone to remember to do it regularly.  With time, it almost never had a flag on it.  It always bothered me, and I knew it didn't reflect the feelings of our members but I didn't think we had an option.  I would often volunteer my family to maintain the bed that surrounded it, since it was included in our Ward's cleaning assignment.  I felt it was the least I could do.

Photo prior to my wedding reception with the lovely
Cathleen Nielsen Christensen by the flag pole

When I was married in 1990, I was serving as the Elders Quorum President of the Rose Park 9th Ward and wanted to have a reception in Rose Park as well as the one we had in Layton, where my wife lived.  There were many members who I wanted to attend, since we would be calling Rose Park home temporarily with living in my Mom's basement apartment.  I wanted a photo that would include a part of my father, since he couldn't be there with us in person, so we took this photo by the flag pole.  Needless to say, this part of our building was a sentimental thing for me.

As I was called as Stake President of the Rose Park Stake in November of 2013, 38 years after my father was released due to his cancer, I inquired about the flag pole as we reviewed maintenance needs of the buildings with the maintenance group that does such a good job keeping our buildings in repair.  I wanted to be fair in my asking of things to be repaired, since it is the Lord's money but was excited to understand that flag poles were a standard part of the package.  I inquired of ours, mentioned the challenges we had faced over the years, and the manager in charge, committed to trying to have it ready for the 4th of July.   True to his word, the lighting was fixed, a new flag placed, and a maintenance agreement in place that will keep it in good repair going forward.

I hope you'll drive by, especially at night.  It's beautiful to me.  I know I'm biased here, but I hope you'll accept it as a gift to our community as well as the members of our Stake.  I will have a few memories on top of it as well.  On this 4th of July, let me just express my gratitude to those who have worked so hard to give us the freedom we enjoy, including the freedom of religion that allows us to worship respectfully in our own way.  Thanks as well to the good people of Rose Park who have worked and sacrificed much to make this such a wonderful place to live.  Happy Birthday to the United States of America!

Father's Tribute to his son - Milton Chester Christensen

Milton, 1965, just before he passed away

If you looked for a complete family portrait for the Robert & Verda Mae Christensen Family, you can't find one.  I was born six months after my brother Milton passed away from aplastic anemia, a rare blood disorder where your body stops producing enough red blood cells.  Milton was the third child in our family as you read in my father's tribute below, had a different approach to his life.  I learned a lot about him growing up and every year we paid respect to him at his grave site.  However I obviously never got to experience him first hand, but my mother tells a story about him during the last stage of his illness.  Milton was unable to speak and had to write conversation down on paper.  My mother was pregnant with me, wrote the following story in her autobiography:

That last night when he and I were alone, he wrote me another very special note:
"Is there someone else in this room?" it said.
And I responded, "Do you see someone?"
He nodded yes.
"Sometimes, when you're very sick," I said, "Heavenly Father sends special
messengers to comfort you, and this is probably whom you see."
I made out his next words. "Clayton's here, isn't he?" I had thought he might be seeing the spirit person so many people said came at the time of death. But Clayton was his next elder brother who was very much alive. So I dismissed the idea that he was seeing a spirit person at all. He was just delirious.
I had no sooner thought that than his next word came:
"You don't believe me."
I hurried to reassure him. "Oh yes, I do." Then it occurred to me that the person he was seeing might well be another family member from generations past, even my own father who had died when I was six and who looked a great deal like his grandson, Clayton.
Then Milton wrote another note. "Who is that in your lap?" it read.
"It's just a pillow," I said. And he said, "Oh."
But later on, I wondered. I was four months pregnant with our youngest child.
Who was it he saw in my lap?


I don't know if it was me, but I've always wondered.  Either way, I look forward to meeting him and was touched at the heart felt tribute that my father wrote, shortly after his death.  Fitting on this Father's day when we celebrate many happy moments and honors of being a father, but there are some heartbreaking moments as well and sometimes very difficult to pen.  I think like most parents, we don't entirely get over these kind of losses and while we do move on, they are tender moments with us forever.  I thought it appropriate to share my father's tribute to my brother Milton:

                No greater honor could be paid me at any time during my life, than to say I am Milton's father. For eleven wonderful years we played, worked, and worshipped together.  With Milton there were so many things in his life that did not fall into the usual pattern of a child's growing up.  Many things children normally do, Milton seemed less interested in. In other matters his interest was greater. He was so interested in some spiritual aspects of the Gospel: The visions of the prophets, death, the resurrection, the spirit world, and the three degrees of glory.

After an illness some years ago, on the way home from the hospital, Verda Mae remarked, "I wonder if we will be able to raise Milton to manhood?"

Milton delighted in the things of the Lord.  Every night he would ask me, "Daddy, tell me a story."  And in the hospital during those long weeks I told him ten times over the Church History and Missionary stories that he loved so well.  Through his bloody, swollen mouth, until the last day, he could still say, "Daddy, tell me a story."

His great love of going to work with me was a great source of happiness to him and me. In the hospital he would say to me, "Daddy, you had better get to work."  Or, "Daddy, you can go home now."  He always had a great concern for me.  He made simple cherished gifts for Father's Day, Birthdays, and Christmas.  This Father's Day on his hospital bed he wrote me his last love letter.

He was always delighted with a chance to serve someone in his own way.  He didn't want to be forced into doing things.  He didn't like the regimentation of a ball team, while a carefree ride on his bicycle filled his heart with gladness.

Milton was a beautiful child. He was always my Milty Boy. Many many times as I looked upon his sweet face as he played and worked and lay asleep, I wondered if , as he grew older, some evil  minded person could lead him astray into an unrighteous life, or some unholy teacher weaken or destroy his testimony  of the restored Gospel. As I had these thoughts I prayed diligently that this would never happen to him and that no person could have an evil influence upon him.

I have always so firmly believed the doctrine that children are heirs to the Celestial Kingdom.  For this Milton was fully prepared.  He had a beautiful body,  a saving knowledge and testimony of the gospel,  and in a few weeks he experienced more darkness,  sickness,  and pain than most men do in a lifetime.

During his illness the scriptures dealing with "Another Father's Son" kept going through my mind and took on great new meaning to me.

As I sat hour after hour, day after day,  wiping away his blood as it dripped from the pores of his body,  I knew what the Lord meant when he dripped "As it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. "

As I sat by his bed and watched him die, I was grateful for the privilege of watching and praying with him.  Many hours we prayed together as one before us, "O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me except I drink it, Thy will be done."

The will of the father was to take him home.  After so many days of awful suffering increasing in intensity hour by hour,  bleeding and infection spreading black throughout his body,  he finally laid his head on his pillow and in two or three heavy breaths,  as though to say, "It is finished," he instantly departed from mortal life.

When Verda Mae reached the hospital and we viewed his lifeless body, all I could say was "Behold thy son."

Milton bore this illness like a man.  On his last day after the needle used in giving him the transfusions had been removed from his foot, he motioned to me to lift him up on the side of the bed so his feet could hang down.  He put his arms around my neck and cried as if to say, "Father, why has thou forsaken me?"   Through his pitiful mouth he made out the words, "Daddy, take me home!"

Now after Milton's great advancement from mortality into the kingdom of the righteous spirits, I plainly see him in the full stature of his magnificent spirit, gloriously endowed with the great knowledge he had in the pre-existent world, living and laboring with our great family who now lives there, sealed up to enter the Celestial kingdom when the Lord calls him.

For Mother, Elliott, Clayton, Maribeth, Spencer, Bradley, Nancy Ruth and me, his greatly blessed father, there remains the living of our lives in the way the Lord has directed us. We must not fail Milton's expectations of our being able to join him as we have promised.

-Robert: M. Christensen

Family portrait taken in the home where I currently live.  Milton is back row
on the left with Elliott and Clayton.
Middle row is my mother Verda Mae Fuller Christensen, sister Maribeth
and my father Robert M. Christensen
Front row is my brother Brad, my brother Spencer and my sister Nancy in
my father's lap.

Verda Mae Christensen - My mother and a treasure in my life

My mother Verda Mae Christensen was always a
Queen of drama (photo courtesy of Ken Miles)

The other day, I finally finished going through some items that we pulled out of our attached garage in order to clean it.  (It only took me about two months to do it!)  One of the last items was a hand purse that my mother was using, shortly before she passed away in 2004.  I thought I should go through it just in case, and came across two twenty dollar bills.  By the look of the age of the bills, they have most likely been in that purse since my mother joined my father, in heaven.  I presented the two bills to each of my daughters, Jessica and Sarah and informed them Grandma had one last gift for them.  It brought some tears to my eyes and then I realized in looking at them, I could see elements that reminded me that more important than those bills, Mom's gift continues to be present in them and each of her children and grandchildren and now great grandchildren.  My mother had a profound impact on me, not only because she gave me the very gift of life, but because she was always there for me in the years that followed.  In the years after my father's death, she played a pivotal role in helping me adapt and even up to her last days, was not only my next door neighbor, but one of my best friends.  It was challenging emotionally to not only move into her home a few weeks after she passed away so we could rent ours and purchase her home, but in closing down and shutting off her physical life and all that goes with it.  I wasn't alone, my family helped a great deal, but I lived it almost every day.  I thought perhaps it was just me, but when the counselor called from the hospice service to see how I was doing, I had her crying by the end of the call.  I at least knew the feelings were real.

Mom with four of her five sisters on the family
farm in Canada.  Her father passed away
when she was six.

Mom was born the third of six girls in an agricultural community called Barnwell in Alberta, Canada.  Her parents had both come from the United States.  Her mother, who was a nurse and her father, who had come from the Chicago area with his brother to start a farming operation, met and fell in love.  These six girls were an outcome of that love and the last one, Fredora was born after her father's death.  My grandfather died unexpectedly at age 39, leaving a widow and six girls.  This could have easily been a Hallmark show, but for them it was real life.  Grandma was the only medical help for miles and it was not uncommon for the girls to be left alone and depend on each other while Grandma helped take care of others.  Education was important and thanks to a strong school principal and parents who cared, Mom received an outstanding education.  She skipped two years in her schooling, graduating at age 15 and went to BYU with her two older sisters to further her education.  Mom graduated at age 19 from BYU and taught for a few years as an English and Drama Teacher in South Summit and Tooele High School.  If she had she taken a job in Richfield, she would have been my father's sophomore English teacher!  She later went on to be a writer and producer for KSL Radio and even wrote their first TV commercial.

My mother outside the Salt Lake Temple on her Wedding Day with my
father Robert M. Christensen, her mother Ruth Fuller and my father's parents
Chester and Emma Christensen and Mom's sister, Dorothy & William Bolander
My father's brother Don Christensen and Mom's friend Iris Corry

Mom married on September 1, 1949 at age 27, having worked through World War II, and was ready to move on with having a family.  Not too unlike me, their dating period was short and they were married four months later.  Cathy and I only dated for six weeks before we were engaged and married after four months ourselves.  Mom and Dad had eight children with their third, Milton passing away at age 11 from a blood disorder.  She was three months pregnant with me at the time,  so we never had a complete family photo.  Mom in one way or the other kept herself busy in church and civic affairs.  She loved her friends and was usually talking to one of them.  She also helped us with our education and at times helped to make ends meet by doing some substitute teaching.  Mom loved projects, and my home is the beneficiary of many of them and she was always trying something new!

My mother thought we needed a Maypole and probably
would not be the subject of good safety procedures!

Robert & Verda Mae Christensen, married just over 26
years, when my Dad died in 1976

Mom and Dad were really perfect partners.  They complemented each other in so many ways with different strengths and weaknesses.  I think it was one of the many challenging things for Mom when she found herself widowed at 53 with more than half of her children to still raise and family to support.  However through it all, she returned back to school, received her Masters Degree in creative Writing, returned to teaching purchased three rental homes, and in 1987 was recognized as Utah Mother of the Year.  Somewhere in there, she served on the Library Board, co-wrote the history for the 25th Anniversary of the Rose Park Stake and also co-wrote the history book for the Salt Lake Temple's 100th anniversary.  The Community Meeting Room at the Day-Riverside Branch is named in her honor.

January 13, 1976 Mom said good bye to her husband and best friend,
Robert Magleby Christensen

I'm hopeful my own life is reflective of the wonderful qualities of my mom.  I miss her a lot.  Mother's Day is always a little hard for me, because I don't have her here still to recognize.  However there are times like Friday night when my daughter Jessica went through the Salt Lake Temple to receive her Endowments that I feel her and my father by my side.  I'm comforted by the fact that I know they live and that one day, I have the opportunity to be with them again.  In the mean time, I love seeing the gifts of my mother in the lives of those she loved.  Happy Mother's Day Mom, I love you.

Rose Park Wedding Reception with my mom, July 1990

Jessica receives her diploma from LDS Institute - the most valuable part of her education experience

Jessica has always been a great example to her
younger sister Sarah

Yesterday was a wonderful day.  I presided over my first Stake Conference and with my counselors, felt like we did our very best.  Feeling the spirit and conveying the feelings of your heart, is both emotional and physically exhausting experience.  However for me personally, the best part came later that day, as we traveled up to Logan, UT to watch our daughter receive her diploma for completing the requirements of Institute Graduation.  This semester, Jessica finished her classes with the exception of one this summer is set for graduation after she completes her assignments for student teaching this fall in Elementary Education.  I'll reluctantly acknowledge as a dedicated UTE fan, that her experience at Utah State has been the right choice and she has received a great education.  It hasn't been cheap or without some pain (thanks to Cathy's sacrifice to work to make it happen) but Jessica has also lived very frugally to make ends meet.  If theory holds correct, she'll graduate this December.

Cathy was looking for new wall paper for her phone and
rightfully has great pride in both her daughters

However the real joy of this whole experience has been her willingness to attend Institute and meet the requirements of her religious education.  Unlike some Church schools (including her two years at LDS Business College) where it is a requirement (rightfully so) this required her to take the classes on top of her normal class load.  None of her Utah State Grades depended on whether she followed through in attending class.  Even with attending an LDS Young Single Adult Ward, only a handful of the ward members actually received their diplomas or certificates for partial achievement.

Jessica with members of her Ward who completed a portion or all
of the requirements outlined by the Church Board of Education

Unlike her education that she'll likely to use periodically in her future employment, her religious education will be used every day of her life.  Don't get me wrong, her educational pursuits will be very helpful in her securing employment, mine was, but the benefit of her effort in religious education will be used every day in her life in how she interacts with people, in raising her own family and in sharing her testimony with those around her both in action and in word.  The cost of her obtaining this education was nominal, but the value priceless.  Congratulations Jessica!

Neil's Pro - a neighborhood gem with reliable service

Neil's Pro on the corner of 600 N and 1200 W - serving the community for over 55 years

You know when you go to rent a car and the car rental counter suggest you use your newest car's insurance and all you can offer is your 1996 Suburban that you realize someone has kept you going all these years. Ok, so I admit that I don't turn my cars over very often and until our recent acquisition of our 2008 Subaru Tribeca a couple of years ago, that was the case for me.  Part of the reason I could do it, is the honest and reliable service I've received over the years from Neil's Pro Service in Rose Park.  Originally started by Neil Draper in 1959, it has been a mainstay in our community.  They've consistently supported community events like little league baseball and now run by Neil's son Chris Draper and his brother Scott, the business continues to be a gem for those of us who are just looking for an honest answer.  Neil still opens up the shop every morning just after 7 a.m. and still does some minor repairs and helps around the shop.  His secret to longevity is a Coke and a snickers bar.  Not what my doctor told me yesterday at my checkup, but sure seems like a good idea!

In addition to my '96 Suburban and my '08 Tribeca, I have a '77 Ford Pickup.  They never wince when I bring them in (at least not to my face) and have always found practical solutions.  If they have safety issues, like my recent inspection of the Suburban, they told me.  On the other hand, they replaced my headlight on my Tribeca for half the cost of the dealership.  When my mother-in-law was told she needed a $350 car repair, I had her bring it down from Layton and Chris took a look at it.  He acknowledge the repair, but told her if she just checked her fluids on the car regularly and with the limited mileage she put on it, would be fine.  Four years later, it's still running and for a widowed mother on limited income, it was a real blessing.  Likewise, my sister-in-law had a similar experience and she lives in Murray.  We invited her to bring it down and today, she always gets her car repaired there and we take her to work.  A few months ago, we needed new tires for my daughter's SAAB before she went back to Utah State.  We checked a local discount warehouse and they couldn't get the tires in for a couple of days.  I went back to Chris at Neil's and learned my lesson.  He had them on later that day and for about $20 less a tire.  Never going anywhere else.

To the Draper Family's credit, they've made it through some tough and difficult times and weathered the ups and downs like most businesses.  However they've never cut corners, always been fair and honest.  If it's going to cost you, they give you the bad news.  If there is a practical solution that gets the job done, they give you that as an option.  I want to be fair with them, and they have been fair with me. If you haven't been to Neil's you should give them a try.  If you don't live in Rose Park, even better.  Come see what a beautiful community that has been home to a great business for over half a century.  Located at 1204 W 600 N, Salt Lake City, UT 84116 or you can call them at (801) 521-0604.  Tell them Carlton sent you.

Fixing a toilet is a privilege!

The other day, I was visiting my mother-in-law Lois Nielsen and noticed her toilet didn't stop running after I flushed it.  After a little investigative work, I realized she just needed a new handle.  Fixing anything for her is never a burden, she is one of the kindest, most deserving people I've ever met.  She loves my kids for who they are, makes them feel valued and makes us quilts that keep us warm and remind us how important we are to her. Mom as I call her, always feels like she is troubling me when I fix something, but the reality is, I need the feeling of service in order to feel better about myself.  In fact, whenever I serve someone else, I almost always feel better about myself and to do it for someone I love and care about, makes it even better.

When the savior admonished his disciple in John 19: 26-27 as he worried about his mother and wanting to assure she was in good care, really set the example. I think about that often, when you think of the widows and others who would fall in the same category, not the least of which is our own parents, particularly our mothers.  I have a pretty good feeling that the Lord will hold us accountable on how we care for those special women in our lives.

It was my own mother, who helped me develop the skill sets to learn how to do repairs.  It wasn't that my mother knew how to do it, but she was willing to invest resources in me learning.  Frequently growing up, she would take me to the hardware store to get the necessary tools.  She was always having Frank Dahn, the plumber show me how to do things and my step-uncle, MC Laird, frequently would take me and show me how things were fixed.  As a fatherless boy growing up, my mother made sure I received the necessary training.  She was intent on my home not being subject to a home with a skill-less father or husband.  I've used those talents hundreds of times in the service of others, and each time, I do, I think of my mom and thank my Heavenly Father that she cared enough to have me care.

We have a fundamental need to serve. I do much on my own and in the community, but I also get the opportunity in my Church.  As a Ministering Brother in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I get called on frequently to help in service of others.  It's not a huge burden, but I know it's helpful when I'm asked.  On occasion, I also require help and am grateful the Church gives us both the opportunity to serve.  After all, it's a core element of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  In the end, we all have that desire to be needed.  Thanks to both my Moms for giving me the chance to serve!

My White Shirt Inventory is Growing!

Just in case you wondered what my shirt
size would be!

I've always had a supply of white shirts, but over my years in the city council service, I mixed them up with a variety of colored shirts.  However in my four months of service as Stake President of the Rose Park Stake in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, my need to wear white shirts has increased!  If you take the ones that head to the dry cleaners, and have some to wear during that week, I've had to add about eight shirts to my wardrobe.  It's not that one is required to wear a white shirt, but it looks better and more neutral in its appearance.  It also makes matching ties a little easier!  The last four months have been challenging to say the least, but I have been blessed with two great counselors in Paul Fullmer and Brent Hyde.  Paul is an insurance adjuster for Met Life and Brent is a manger for Church Security.  Both are two individuals who love the Lord, and serve faithfully.  None of us are paid, and when you look at a schedule that includes most of the day Sunday, a couple nights a week and frequent correspondence through most days, this is not a passive assignment.  However I've never felt the spirit more, have a greater insight of what Heavenly Father wants for the members of Rose Park Stake and amazed at the genuine goodness of so many people.  If this were just me, I would have been done in month two, but one doesn't do it alone and I can testify God's hand in the work that is done.

Not every moment is simple or without some heartbreak.  However when you watch someone decide to make a change in their life, see it begin to improve and feel of their desire to be a better person, there is no better experience in my life.  I've been blessed over the years to have some great experiences.  In fact, from my public service alone, I have five volumes of large scrapbooks outlining that service.  It will forever be a significant part of my life.  However it is pale in comparison to the work I now experience.  To stand in a congregation of a couple hundred people and feel a peaceful impression on the message I'm suppose to share with them, is such a humbling and touching experience that it has brought frequent tears to my eyes.

I enjoy my work at Salt Lake County and it is very challenging and demanding.  It's a great balance from my life coming from elected office to continue in some realm of public service.  However I truly enjoy serving in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ to whomever I can associate with, either in words or example.  I'm far from perfect.  In fact, the list of needed improvement with me seems to grow each day.  I need to get in better shape, write more often in a journal, pray more each day, but nevertheless the Lord doesn't expect us to be perfect, just a broken heart that strives to be better.

I would be remiss to not mention how grateful I've been for my family.  Cathy and the girls have been there for me so often, and I cherish them. At the end of the day, they are all that matters.  So, if you see me wearing a few more white shirts, just know that I'm keeping busy, hopefully doing some good.