cc: file, Marti, Sara and Des, Diane Cluff, Tony Hafen, Darrell and Nancy Krueger, Eric and Annette Krueger, Eric and Renee Miner, Claude and Katherine Warner, Forest and Amy Warner, and Ivan and Chell Warner.
"The political cartoon in todays Houston Chronicle shows Princess Di and Mother Teresa sitting in front of Saint Peter in the clouds of heaven. Peter says: `So, when the idea of consultants came up, we agreed: `only if we could call in the best ... only if we could call in the best!'' He is holding a plan labeled `Project Heaven on Earth: A greater world through greater humanitarianism. Ingrediants:
I think it was a sister who was in our ward and who sponsored a student in India who talked about how obsessive Mother Teresa was and how she was really a work-a-holic addicted to the praise she got from her work. I remember another member talking about the consequences of sin and relating it to the divorce of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. I have read extensively about the critics of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and the other latter-day prophets. My response is taken from the scriptures: `By their fruits shall ye know them.' I am sure that within a few months, if not already, the above negative comments will be forgotten. I am equally sure that in a decade or two decades when someone mentions Princess Di or Mother Teresa to any of you there will be thoughts about all of the good done for charities or for the poor in the gutters of India. I expect the time will come you will watch a History Channel or PBS Special or an epic movie on the life of Princess Diana or Mother Teresa and there will be a tear in your eye and a swelling in your bosom because of their efforts to make the world a better place. Isn't this what life is all about? To handle the trials of life with some grace and leave a positive legacy for those remaining to carry on. I hope you will each come see these Thoughtlets and the ideas I am attempting to share in this kind of light.
As I worked on a PEMEX seismic interpretation with some Mexican geoscientists on Tuesday and Wednesday, as I drove to Austin Thursday and back Friday, as I was working on defining the prospects to finish up the South Lake Maracaibo project for the Venezuelian Oil Company Lagoven, as I worked on sorting out my library on Friday night and Saturday, and as I cleaned up some weeds in the back yard to get ready for a dutch oven cookout for the High Priest group leadership Saturday evening my mind would wonder to `What am I going to write to you kids that you will someday find useful?' I thought of the word paparazzi, which I heard for the first time a week ago when I got to Uncle Tony's in St. George to stay Saturday night, after taking my Mom to the Adolf Hafen family reunion, and learned of Princess Di's tragedy in Paris. It is a neat sounding word and there are several stories I could tell about my encounters with the media. Then there were the interesting and exciting and some funny stories Uncle Tony told me about his tour of duty in Korea with the Utah National Guard. Then I was watching The History Channel this morning while ironing my shirts. There was a special on the indians from Prince Albert Island in Canada. It closed with the words: `Everything that comes from the earth must return to it. It is the great natural cycle. And we are part of it.' The next program to come on was a special `History In The Making' review of Princess Di's funeral yesterday. And this set my topic.
I have been surrounded by strong women my whole life (my Grandma Hafen, my Grandma Nelson, my Aunt Marie Krueger, my Aunt Luana Warner, my Mom, my sister, your mom, , etc., and now you, Melanie and Sara.). Frankly this has not always been easy for a take charge guy like me. However, like Princess Di and Mother Teresa there has been and will be a tremendous amount of good done by each of the women I have been close to.
To pick one strong woman, your Mom, two examples come to mind which show her strength in enduring and my weaknesses in priority setting. First, I had committed to teach a course for Royal Dutch Shell in The Haag, The Netherlands, and then to fly from there to Rio de Janerio, Brazil for meetings with PetroBras. The water pipes froze and broke in the bar upstairs and came through the ceiling, ruining the carpeting in the living room. You were all here, and I anticipate it was a pretty tramatic experience. By the time I was back home everything had been fixed, the ceiling and carpets replaced, the insurance company had payed the bills, and life was continuing. I didn't ever really learn the details of how many problems were involved in fixing everything up.
Second, there was a visitor to Landmark from Julich, Germany: Herr Dr. Deitrich Welte. Your Mom cooked a fancy dinner for Dr. Welte, the President of Landmark, spouses, and several others. She fell on a wet floor, kept hold of a crystal glass which shattered, cutting the tendon in her left thumb, which snapped back to the wrist. By the time she went into surgery I was off on a scheduled trip to China and wasn't there to take her to the hospital, to support her, or help with you kids. I wish I could go back and reset my priorities, cancel both of these trips, and do it all over again better.
However, I am glad for strong women, for women with the ability to make decisions and to get on with life, even when life is very hard and the decisions are not the ones I would make. I am glad there are examples like Princess Di and Mother Teresa for you Melanie and for you Sara, as well as for Ben's Sarah, and the other women who will come into my life through you boys. I hope you will all get to know the good sides of strong women. Grandma Hafen has put together a completed copy of her personal history, along with six copies to make a book for each of you. I intend to get these put together for each of you for Christmas. It is an excellent example of what I am writing about. Strong women can be wonderful mentors and advisors."