Family stories

 Hi Jake,

I’m going to add to my grandma’s story in this letter. If I could write it in Spanish I would.

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My grandma Domatilla Rivera Martinez

In my last letter, I gave you the places and dates. My grandma is from a town about three hours south of Mexico City. She was the youngest of four children, two sisters and a brother. The elders found her family and began teaching. The men in the family were not interested in hearing the gospel, but the women were open to it. The elders were from Utah, and it didn’t seem like they had the best Spanish. They saw that the family had a little dog and we’re trying to ask what the dog’s name was. My grandma thought they were naming the dog “Dog”, so Dog was it’s name from then on. 

Anyway, my grandma, her two older sisters, and my great grandma were all baptized. There was a lot going on in Mexico at that time, the revolution with Pancho Villa. War time is not a safe time for anyone, but it’s especially dangerous for young women and girls. Her family had land, so often when things were really bad she would have to hide in trees or in a rough cellar under ground. Sometimes for days or even weeks at a time, usually by herself. Eventually, one of the elders said that the family could come stay with his family in Utah. My great grandfather and uncle didn’t want to leave, the wanted to stay with the land. So the girls and their mom decided to go. At that time they traveled by train and bus. As they were crossing the boarder in El Paso Texas, there was an accident with the bus they were on. My great grandma was critically injured and eventually died in El Paso. So the three girls, the oldest still not 20 years old, made there way to Salt Lake City.

They survived by cleaning houses and other odd jobs. One day, a Spanish teacher from the University of Utah Was invited Spanish speaking young people to a social to help her students learn Spanish. My grandpa had a layover at the train station and also got the invitation. So they were able to meet at that social, my grandpa stayed and courted her. However, she would not take him seriously unless he were to be baptized. They raised 5 kids with all of them serving missions in Mexico, my uncle was a mission President in Torreón Mexico, and my parents serving in the Mexico City temple. My grandmas family helped form the first Spanish speaking ward in Utah, the Lucero ward. I have a picture of her at the ground breaking ceremony with Harold B. Lee, who was the Stake President at the time and eventually became the prophet.

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Grandpa Orlando 

Antonio Salazar from Antonio’s story was my dad’s great great grandpa. The area in southern Colorado was part of Mexico at that time, as was Utah. After the Mormons settled there, there was always a rift between the Spanish speaking people who were all catholic and the English speaking people who were all Mormon. My family were always outsiders because they spoke Spanish but they were Mormon. Over time, my grandma became less active and didn’t really raise my dad in the church. 

One day when my dad was about 18 he found himself waiting for his buddies on the steps outside the Catholic Church. He felt like a man without a religion. My dad’s grandmother had been widowed but was still very active in the church. So he went to ask for her advice. She said “mi hijto (she called him that with so much love even when my dad was a Vice President at the university of Utah), it’s time for you to be baptized (I’m sure it was all in Spanish).” My dad was baptized almost out of pure love and respect for his grandmother. A few weeks later the Stake President called him in and asked him to serve a mission. My dad didn’t even know what that meant, and when it was explained my dad let him know that he was expecting to be drafted into the military, this was during the Korean War. The stake President was on the draft board and said he could get a deferral, which meant the draft could be put of for a time. Actually my dad’s draft papers came through so he didn’t think he would be able to serve a mission. But then his military service was deferred and he was called to serve his mission in Mexico. Being so new in the church he used to tell me that he was the best investigator in the mission for his first six months. When the APs asked who had ordained my dad an elder he had to look at his certificate. He was ordained when he was in the mission home in Salt Lake City and it was Elder Mark E. Petersen, who was an apostle. Your line of authority comes from him because of that. Dad served for two and a half years. He was companions with one of my moms brothers. Another companion had a brother who was the President of the Mexico City temple. He asked President Monson to call dad to be his first counselor, all because over 40 years earlier dad had been such a dedicated missionary. 

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Anyway Jacob, let me know if those are what you needed. If not, I will happily send more stories.

Love you,

Pops