Let me introduce Sister Faun with the opening paragraph from her Journal.
"That little baby girl born on a crisp, golden, autumn day - October 16, 1906 in the pleasant little town of Mona, Utah, the ninth child in a wonderful family of ten, to devoted parents who cherished, loved, taught, and directed our lives in the way we should go. By word and deed we learned from them to love God and to keep His commandments, to love each other, to be mindful of and to serve our fellowmen. To know that each of us belongs to that eternal family, each important to the whole, each necessary to God's wonderful, eternal plan of salvation."
From this opening paragraph it is easy to see she was a child who was well loved and loved well in return. Her life seemed always to reflect the teachings of her youth. In her journal she recounted a story which represents what I believe to be the essence of Sister Faun. Let me read just these few paragraphs from her journal.
"During those summers Papa took Paul and me everywhere with him and oh what fun it was. One summer he was digging a well over on the West side dry farm in Mona with hopes of reaching water to improve the wheat crops. All summer, Papa and the men helping him would start at daybreak to load the barrels of water and tools in the wagons to take the few miles to the dry farm where they would spend the day digging for water. One early morning as they were preparing to leave, Paul and I were watching and following Papa around asking questions when he asked us if we would like to go with him that day. "Oh yes, of course". So Papa persuaded Mama that it would be alright. Sure he would take good care of us, so another lunch was quickly made for us, hats were put on our heads and we were boosted upon the seat of the wagon to sit beside Papa. I can still feel the warmth of the morning sun coming up, the smell of the sweet odor of the hay and the horses and hear the happy singing of Papa as the wagons pulled out of the barnyard. Down the dusty road we lumbered, past the pond and the pastures, across the creek bridge. Oh what an adventure! Suddenly Papa stopped the horses and jumped off the wagon and with his pocket knife cut off a piece of thistle. He peeled, cut it and handed each of us a piece. Then back on the wagon and once more we were on our way, singing Papa's favorite happy morning song. "There was a little lassie, went this way, went that way" and so forth. Each of us chewing on the sweet stick of thistle. Did you ever eat a piece of sweet thistle? Well you should. But then, it may not taste the same in a different time and place. All that day as the men worked on the well Paul and I roamed the field, rode the horse, found treasures of Indian arrow heads. This had been Ute country. And swinging in the hammock that Papa had made with chicken wire hung between two fence posts. By sundown most of our energy was spent so we stood with Papa beside the deep well. "Did you get to water today, Papa?" I asked. "No, my dear. Eighty feet down and only a trickle of water. I guess the good Lord really intends this to be a dry land."
"It's so deep, Papa",
we said. "Yes, my dears, so
deep. A whole summer's work". And then he brightened. "Would you children like to go down into
the well and see what it looks like?"
"Oh yes, could we, Papa?"
So one at a time we stepped with Papa into the big bucket and the men
slowly lowered us into the well. First
Paul and then me. What a pounding of my
heart, but Papa had his hand on my shoulder and that always gave me
courage. Down we went, past the sand and
the rock and the red earth, each changing layer of earth bringing my questions
and Papa's careful answers. Then as the
bucket came to rest on the bottom of the dark well, I saw it, that small
trickle of water, a summer's work.
"I'm sorry it's only a trickle, Papa." I said.
And then as we stood there watching that trickle of water, a small
feeling of melancholy touched me.
"Papa, it's rather dark and scary down here isn't it?" And Papa, always ready to teach us some
important lesson, pressed me a bit closer to him and said something I have
never forgotten and I never shall. To
the child of seven and the woman of seventy-two it has always been a great
comfort. "Look up, my dear,"
he said. And as I looked up I saw above
the top rim of the well, the sky with the brilliant red of the summer
sunset. How often I have seen that
blazing color as Utah
Even as a child Faun had a strong testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel but with each new calling in the church her testimony and love of the gospel have become stronger. Her first calling was in the early 40's when she was a young mother with two young boys. She was called to teach a class of 12 year olds' in Sunday School. They were a challenge for her but they were bright and had been taught the gospel principles by their parents. She often thought of them and remembered the good lively classes they had - and wondered - did they teach her more than she taught them? She said she was left wiser than before teaching the class.
Then she was called as a teacher in Relief Society. The class that year was called the Old Testament as Literature. In her own words, "I shall never forget it, my feeling that a mistake had been made. Feeling that I was totally unprepared for such a calling. There were so many wonderful sisters in that class, so much more capable and versed in the gospel than I. But I had been taught to never say no when I received a calling in the church, and so I must accept and do my best. So with fear and a weak feeling of my capability, I accepted. I shall never forget the many hours of study every morning. Then an hour's walk to ponder and to pray. To pray that the Lord would help me to remember what I had studied and that I would only teach that which was true, only that which the Lord desired and prompted me to teach. I must tell you that those years that I taught those lessons enriched my life so much, as I studied about the prophets of old - Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, and others, they became so close to me. I felt the strength of Amos - a strong man taken from the fields to preach to the King, the elite, and I cried with Jeremiah over his love and his sorrow for his people and their wickedness and unrepenting ways, and I felt the strength and wisdom of Isaiah. How I loved those never-to-be forgotten lessons."
Later she was called to be a counselor in the Relief Society. She refered to this calling as, "days of rich friendships, days of loving sisters, days of real service, of giving and receiving wonderful blessings."
Then came a calling of real
surprise - President of the Young Women's Mutual. She had never worked in the Mutual before but
was glad to accept this calling. Her
daughter, Ann was just 12 years old and in her first year of Mutual. Faun thought it would be great to be involved
with the girls and their activities. It
was a very active and happy time.
Beautiful girls. She had a hand
in helping plan their lessons, their dances, their shows and camp. The camps were great. She loved those times they shared sleeping
under the stars at Donner Lake
The next calling was very
special. She had never thought of
herself being at the Temple
Then she wondered, "What does the Lord have waiting for me now?" It was a little hard for her to think of anything that could take the place of those last three years. But He did have something. That was when Brother Ronald Buhler came to see her asking if she could speak Spanish or if she could read Spanish. She said, "No, not a word". Then he asked if she knew anything about the extraction program. She replyed "No, I have no idea what it is". He spent some time telling her about it, letting her know that it was very important work and that her ward was involved with working on Spanish records. He said he felt she had the spirit and that she could do the work. By the time he finished telling her about the work, she was anxious to learn more and, true to form, did accept. She learned about the Spanish in the records and began to love the work. She couldn't wait to come to the church each morning and spend hours in that little room working on records. She was given the Aztec Indian records. She enjoyed doing these the most of all as she had some Indian blood in her veins and sometimes felt like these people were her ancestors. She received many blessings from years of work there. But most of all she was so happy being able to do this work. She received so much help from many wonderful people.
Each position strengthened her testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. During these past few years of illness, her testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ never wavered. She has greatly enjoyed the visits of ward members, friends, and family.
Like a missionary, her time in the field has now been completed. Her release, at age 87 years 6 months, came DATE at time. She has gone "home" to make her report and rejoice with family that have preceded her. Those having gone before are her husband Velsa, better known to most as Bud, two grandchildren, Christine and Steven, and all but two of her brothers and sisters.
I am sure it will be a grand "home coming".
Comments