February 27th, 1956 First Presbyterian Church Idaho

First Presbyterian Church Malad City, Idaho February 27, 1956
(Grammatical/spelling error unchanged from original)

Dear Folks:

Well, “hell week” is under my belt. What a tempest - it reminded me of the old college days when I had to slam and jam to get things done, you know, “under the gun”. Whew - I usually have a little time for meditation and prayer before the Sunday services, but this week I was working right down to the wire, nevertheless, there was a real “power” in the pulpit. My week’s speaking at the funeral and Masonic banquite did its good work -- attendance was up from 34 to 49. Maybe I work best under pressure -- one of my young elders who was present at all of my speaking engagements said Sunday: “this morning even I was moved, you have arrived!”

Sunday I preached on “Love you neighbor” and half of the ermon was on sin. After all, there is no sense in soft -- pedalling the gospel - give it to them straight, and if they are all honest they can take it. This was the most theological sermon I have preached, but a little intellectual endeavor does people good. “Sin and Salvation” was the topic of my evening class, and we used the book of Romans as the basis of our thought. It was a fine session. One of the “old boys” kept asking me what “paradise” was, how you describe paradise; I got tired of his insistence so shut him up with the remark that “paradise is the state of being a batcheler”.

So the storms still rage in your country, well good. We have been having spasmodic snow storms here too. It is good after the long dry spell to have a good healthy drink. We hear over the radio that they still are having floods in Oregon.

Say Ace, it seems more and more imperative that I buy a slide projector. Can you get me one wholesale. Also, I want one with the dual-function of slides and filmstrips; and maybe an automatic attachment.

Now what the devil is Ralph pulling here - sure there is enough work on the ranch to keep a whole army busy, but let’s face it, the ranch is not able at the present time to support even the Crawford’s (in the style they would like to be accustomed to). Ralph can do the spring planting himself and doesn’t need neil, after all, a married man needs a little dough.

I hope you can make it over here - if the weather is bad, just take the train and I will pick you up at Pocatella. Mom, my house needs a good cleaning, and we have fine television reception for Dad’s entertainment. Bonney and I will keep busy on the ski slopes.

Well, it is time that I went out to dinner so will close for now.

Love
Bruce