...had been neglected, I ran acrossed a series of plants that looked suspiciously like marijuana. The police were called and the plants were confiscated, and luckily neither the church nor I were cited for the felony in the gardens. Every year we would also have a Gardener's ball. When we would meet at the church Greenhouse in Rose Park to eat and play "adult" games. Peter and Jerry were sincere and in later years encouraged me in school and helped me to find other jobs that would aid in my training. As my 19th birthday seem closer and closer, Susan and I began making the best of our time. Our dates became less costly and I began to realize how little money I had actually saved and set aside for my mission. There didn't seem to be time to sit under our tree on 3rd East behind the old 2nd Ward house, there were no more dances to attend; most of the time we spent dating was time spent together with movies or dinners to consume the others interest.
Susan was a senior by then and I enrolled with a music scholarship at Weber State College. Every morning I would ride in with Dale Keddington, Lorna Peterson and her friend, attend my classes and catch the bus home. I always tried to get to Bountiful in time to walk Susan to her work as I had done before. It was not only a long walk but we could sneak in a meeting while our parents thought I was still coming from college and she was innocently walking to work.
I was enjoying college but I felt the need to earn more money in preparation for my mission so I stopped being a student and for a time was unemployed. For the first time in my life I decided to go to the Job Corp and stand in line. At first I was discouraged by the many jobs listed that required experience and long-term employment, but they soon found me a job as a carpet cleaner. They used what they called a dry cleaning method that was only somewhat drier than steam cleaning. We would use a professional strength buffer with cloth pads on the rotor to clean the carpets [after] they had been sprayed with a magic solution. Generally, people were happy with what the process could do but we had some unhappy customers who complained about carpets being too wet or the process not working. I was trained in one day and [was] expected to be proficient when he started asking me to clean walls, furniture, and floors. I was glad my mission was near.
Those few months before I was actually called we're probably the most busy weeks of my life. I was working, dating, studying, playing my trombone in a variety of groups, and trying to be home for meals. I was also on the ward's basketball and baseball teams trying to keep from embarrassing myself in front of Susan who was always in attendance. She would complain that our baseball pants were too thin and could be seen through, and the little we wore for basketball was risque. Susan, through thick and thin, was supportive and there when I needed her and when she needed me.
Throughout my life, I never doubted the church or its leaders but because of the many wonderful experiences that were always quoted in talks and Sunday school lesson I doubted that I had the testimony enough to know, for the great revelation that would [give] me the strength that I wanted. I read the Book of Mormon and believing in Moroni's promise I waited for that one burning experience. I would...
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