While at BYU I sang in the choir, which was a wonderful experience. I read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover for the very first time. I never forgot the experience I had when I got to Moroni 10:3-4. How the spirit filled my body and, and I knew the Church of Jesus Christ was true. I can still see my bedroom and I was laying in bed reading. It was such a wonderful experience. I loved my institute classes. They were my favorite. English and Math were my least favorite. I hated writing themes. Leona, my roommate, was a real brain and she loved to write, so she always helped me with my themes. She was the baby of her family and she didn’t know how to cook or clean, so we worked out a trading deal. It worked out really well for both of us. Ha!
In my institute class they announced that they needed participants for the Hill Cumorah Pageant. That sounded like such a great experience. I talked it over with Mom and Dad and they felt like that was something I should experience. So I signed up to do that. I got a bad cold that winter and they gave me penicillin which I had a bad reaction to, so then I was really sick. It ate away the tissue lining my mouth and down my throat. I just remember how bad it hurt, and I got so weak. Dad and Mom had me move back home at the end of the quarter. After the holidays I went to college at Utah State to be closer to home. I stayed in the dorms, but I was still pretty weak. I remember walking up a flight of steps to go to class and thought I was going to pass out. But I did regain my strength and finished that year of college.
That summer it came time to leave for the pageant. We had to be in Palmyra two weeks before the start of the pageant to practice. We traveled by bus and had to wear dresses all the time, as we were told to keep the missionary rules. That was the only part I didn’t enjoy – wearing a dress all the time. It was a wonderful experience, and I have never forgotten the feeling I had when the Savior appeared on the top of the Hill Cumorah, the gentle breeze moving his white robes. We were all reaching up towards him and trying to sing with tears running down our cheeks. Mother and Grandma Dredge decided since I was in the pageant they would plan a trip back east and come to the pageant. It was so good to see them and be able to spend some time with them. They went on a church history tour and had a wonderful trip as well. We met a lot of the missionaries who were serving in that mission. I knew Gary Bowie really well from Canada, and met him again at Utah State. In fact, I did his laundry for him at the girl’s dorm. It was good to see him again and remember the good times we had together. Colleen Russell (Flamm) also participated in the pageant and we became good friends.
When it came time to start thinking about college again, I didn’t know what I wanted to study. But I always thought I would like to become a beautician. I loved to play with hair and see how pretty I could style it for someone. So we did some checking around at different beauty schools. My dear friend Diane Rose and I got visiting, and she suggested I go to Weber State in Ogden, Utah. She had decided to leave “The Y” also and wanted me to come live with her and her Grandma in Ogden. So that is what I did, and I loved every minute of it. One day this nice-looking older lady came in and had an appointment with me to do her hair. She had beautiful long hair and liked to wear it in a French twist. I kept looking at her and thought she looked so familiar to me. Finally, I said to her, “You remind me so much of my grandmother.” So as soon as I told her who my grandmother was, she just let out a little chuckle and reached up and gave me a squeeze. She was my Great Aunt Charlotte, Grandmother Dredge’s sister. Aunt Charlotte and I bonded immediately. She took me under her wing and had Diane and I over for lunch several times. She always tipped me really well each week as I did her hair.When I was ready to graduate from cosmetology at Weber State, I needed to look for a job. One of the salesmen, who I really liked, asked me if I would be interested in working in Jackson, Wyoming for the summer. He knew a lady who was looking for someone. I wanted some of my friends to go with me if they were willing. So Pat Eliason and Sonja Bowcutt and I made a trip to Jackson. They both found jobs working at the Roundup, and I met the lady I would be working for. We also heard about a lady who rented bedrooms to LDS girls, so Sonja and I were able to stay with her. Sister Robertson became a dear sweet friend to me. She was a wonderful older person, a widow very strong in the church. We always rode to church together because I didn’t have to work on Sundays. My work was about four blocks from her house, so I was always able to walk to work. I was able to make good money because the tips were so good. Most of my customers were tourists, so I met all kinds of people.
My boyfriend at that time was from Utah. He had an airplane and would fly up to Jackson to see me on some weekends. Other times he would just drive. We flew up around Jenny’s Lake and close to the Tetons, and once flew over Yellowstone Park and got to see Old Faithful go off from the air. (Crazy girl) When I was at the ranch in Snowville he would fly out there and buzz the house. Maybe that’s why I hated to fly as I got older.
That summer I got a phone call from mother telling me I needed to get on the bus and come home. Sheila had been sick a lot that summer and couldn’t seem to get better. She had been sick with pneumonia that spring. They were going to operate on her and remove a part of one lung. That was real scary in those days needless to say. So I left Jackson and headed for Tremonton, Utah. The bus stopped in every little town, including Sugar City. I remember looking around and thinking, “Who would want to live here?” (Little did I know…) I also remember stopping in Rexburg on College Ave. It took forever to get to Tremonton. I spent a week or so with Sheila in the hospital and helping mother. Then I went back to Jackson to finish my summer work.
When fall came it was time to move on, but I wasn’t sure where to go. The same beauty salesman who had helped me get the job in Jackson asked if I would like to come to Logan, Utah and work for him in his beauty salon. I was excited to be able to go back to Logan. I loved being close to the Utah mountain range. I found an apartment close to the Artistic Beauty Salon where I could walk to work. I lived with three other girls and we had a great time. When it was time for me to buy a car, again my boss came to my aid and sold me his Buick for $500. It was a two door, blue in color, and seemed like a big old car to me. Daddy wanted me to get it too. He felt like I would be safe in it if I ever got into an accident. He didn’t want me to have a little car.
