Robert writes home #50 6 Aug 1995 (essay on training horses/parenting)

#50

6 Aug 1995

Dear Mother,

                Charlie and I picked our oldest daughter Laurie up in San Jose yesterday. She’s really looking good and has a cute little chubby baby, Andrew. She left her other six kids home with her husband. She’s moving to Lawrence, Kansas in two weeks where he has a new job. Her Lincoln, Nebraska, house is being recarpeted (in preparation for sale) while she’s gone and her kids are living in a friend’s house while the friends are on vacation. It worked out perfectly.

                We went all went to fast and testimony meeting today. She got up and bore her testimony and told who she was. Mom and I talked about her in our testimonies. It was fun for her to be back in the ward again. There were only about 10 people still there from her days in the ward.

                Charlie and the YM group take off in the morning on their 280 mile bike trip to Magic Mountain. They plan to go about 70 miles per day and camp at night. He’s pretty pumped up about it. I think it will be a great experience. He’ll probably be telling stories about it into his old age.

                They are driving over to Hollister to spend the night and get an early start…that doesn’t quite meet my guidelines for keeping the Sabbath but I guess I’ll let them slide. That seems like starting the trip on Sunday to me.

                My watermelons vines have got some kind of blight in them. The leaves are turning yellow and drying up before the melons get completely ripe. Farming is tough. I don’t know what to do about it.

Love,

Robert, Janet, Charlie and Sam

PS Here’s a little essay:

Once there was a man who’s job was raising colts for his overseer. He didn’t know what he overseer wanted the colts for.

                But, he knew that when the colt was five years old the overseer took him away and brought him a replacement colt

                The man had to raise the feed and take care of everything associated with raising these horses. It was a lot of hard work he had to use the horses to do the work like plowing and discing, hauling wood, harvesting, etc.

                As time went on technological progress made things easier. Gas, heat, tractors, swathers, balers, etc, were made available by the overseer. The man thought “I’ve always commiserated with those horses having to work so hard swearing and straining in the hot sun. Now I can do what I’ve always wanted to do…just let them take it easy and frolic in the clover.

His job became easy too. All he had to do was feed them and clean the stalls in the winter and keep up things. After a while he started feeling discontent and useless. Someone said to him “I need some help in my harness shop. Why don’t you come and work for me in your spare time. You could take care of your horses before and after work and on weekends. You’ll make extra money and could buy more status symbols and would feel more worthwhile. : So he did.

Two or three years passed and the overseer came to pick up some more four year old horses. Now, the man didn’t realize that the overseer was using these horses for coach horses in a special circumstance. They were specially bred for gait and other special qualities. When the overseer put his group of horses in the harness and hooked them up to the carriages they panicked and bolted and did a lot of damage. And those that were controllable were weak and had poor strength and endurance.

The overseer went back to the man and relieved him of his position. He didn’t realize that an important part of his job was training and building strength and discipline and endurance. These things were automatic outcomes of life when it was hard and basic. They all came about as a result of meeting the challenges of daily living. But when the world changed he was unable to relate those values.

Pres. Benson said that Satan’s drive in this day is to obscure the importance of the parenting role. I think this story has an analogy to that problem in today’s world.